And the Tears Streamed Down Her Face
by mwang
Summary: When Peaches falls through the ice, the herd embarks on a dangerous journey to find her. But then they find their herd becoming smaller...and smaller, and the one weasel who can save them may end up sacrificing himself to a slow and painful death.Blink Back Tears sequel, AU as of the I.A.4 premiere
1. Part one: Memories and distaster

**Hello again. I'm just going to write some mindless rubbish here, so...please no flames because I'm not REALLY THINKING and yeah I don't own anything AT ALL except the characters that you don't recognize from any of the movies/ deleted scenes/ video games. Related to Blink Back Tears, my other story. one shot. **

**sUMMARY:**

**Buck's remembering when Tabitha was little...or maybe the story will take a turn for the worse.**

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><p>Buck's POV<p>

It was about a month after the adventure with the fire and all that.

Dorothy, Tabitha, the possums, and I were playing tag with Peaches. I realized I hadn't played this game in years. Not since Tabitha was a little girl. "Tag, you're it!" shouted Eddie, tagging Peaches on the shoulder, then darting away.

_"Tag, you're it!" _a small voice echoed in my mind. I shook that thought off and concentrated on getting away from the hyper mammoth. _"You can't catch me!" "Oh yes I can!"_

I grabbed Tabitha and shoved both of us behind a tree, waiting to see if Peaches would see us. "Hey, whatcha guys doing?" asked Sid, suddenly beside us. "Shh!" shushed Tabitha. "We're playing tag/hide and go seek!" she whispered.

_"You can't hide forever, Buckminster!" _chirped a happy voice. I had to stop thinking about _her, _about _then._ Think _now, _I told myself. You're not running from an educated blond she-weasel, but a peach. No, not a peach, you airhead, a mammoth named Peaches. But she could dress up like a peach for Halloween... Hm. Halloween. I wondered if Tabitha still like to trick or treat and dress up. That thought led to the thought of remembering when she'd dressed up as a black cat when she was four. "TAG YOU'RE IT!" Caught off guard, the six year old pushed me to the ground. I hopped up and chased after her on all fours. _Just like back then,_ I thought. _Yes_, it _was_ just like the good ole days.

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><p>LATER...<p>

It was around four in the afternoon. Alone, I was just lying on a rock. Tabitha was out and about with Sid, doing something strange like picking rocks out of ice and tossing them off a small cliff into water or something.

I started to think about earlier, how much fun we'd had..._"Daddy, today was the best day ever." _ Having nothing else to do but stare at dirt and watch ants crawl, I closed my eye.

Images; memories- sights and sounds filled my mind...

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><p><em> A feminine voice whispered in my ear," Buckminster, do you know what day it is?" I sleepily opened my eyes when I felt her elbows propped up on my chest. Two bright green eyes greeted me, surrounded by light colored fur. "Tuesday?" I answered groggily. She shook her head. "Guess again." I yawned and sat up. "Wednesday." She rolled her eyes. "No, stupid, it's our anniversary." Now I was awake. I snapped my fingers, "Right! I was just about to say that!" She leaned against me. "Sure, you were." "I was, Kathy! Really..." She swung both legs out of bed. "Well, whether you meant to or not isn't the question. The question is: What are we gonna do on this <em>special _occasion?" I followed her. "Well...for starters..." I leaned over and kissed her. _

_A voice from behind startled both of us. "_Ew! _Mommy and Daddy are smooching!" I scooped Tabitha up- -_

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><p>"Hey, dad, wake up! " I heard my daughter yell. I was brought back to the present by her shaking me. "Why?" I asked, yawning. I twisted around in a way only weasels could do. "Because you have to!" "Says who?" "Me, of course." I rubbed my eye tiredly as I stood. Before I could react, she pulled me along frantically. "What? What's wrong? Why are we going over here?"<p>

Up ahead I saw a big crowd gathered. Uh oh, I thought, this can't be good. Tabitha's grip loosened, and I made my way to the front.

A large, gaping hole that seemed to have no end sat before me. On the other side, Manny was shouting Peaches's name hopefully, while Ellie was sobbing. I crept forward even more, wary of cracks in the ice. I could faintly make out the smell of tropical...well just "tropical" in general. Manny looked at me, searching for something- anything- on my face that could tell him that his daughter was alive. I looked down again, trying to make heads or tails of how deep it would be. Guessing it would be roughly four hundred paces down before she'd land on the jungle floor, and if she somehow got lucky (and if God had any part in it) she landed on a rather tall tree with very big leaves, she might just have a chance of surviving the fall.

Of course, that said nothing on how long she'd survive in the dinosaur world. A small mammoth of about six, all alone, with little training on survival because her father protested that she was too young to know about all the dangers of the world...She had around half an hour before she was squished, drowned, eaten, poisoned, or she ran into Rudy.

I looked at Manny, and made a motion with my hand, signalling that we either go now...or it would be too late.

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><p><strong>Okay! So I guess it's not going to be one-shot any more! Review please! Just click that magic button! Anonymous reviews welcome too! If I don't get at least 6 reviews, I promise you that this will stay a one shot. <strong>


	2. And it's Buckminster to the rescue

**Chapter 2 of Get Back Here This Instant, Young Lady. The title should begin to make sense by chapter 3. Please review! PS I own nothing but my OC'S! I failed to mention this in Chapter 1, but you all know I don't own them, or else I wouldn't be writing a fan fiction. Hope I get the characters to be more in character this time.**

_**IMPORTANT; READ; PLEASE!; YOU MUST! **_

**I would also like to add that all the fan fictions so far (except chapter 5 of BBT, and she DID help me A LOT in all my stories to come up with concepts and stuff, along with other close friends) by "Mwang" _aren't by the actual "Mwang" whom this account is named after._ It's a shared account, and since she has little or no use for it, she let's me, Agent Smart, use it. Of Course, since this is under her name, I ask if she'll let me publish stories/leave reviews/PM Message and stuff...So yeah! She mostly just read the PM messages you guys send us, but she rarely or never responds to them. So just be aware that all these stories are actually mainly by Secret Agent Smart, who currently does NOT have account, but within a decade or two, I'll eventually get around to getting one...**

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><p><strong>Tabitha<strong>

It happened so fast. She was just meandering; acting the way any six year old would. And then...Then there was this earsplitting CRACK!...And then we heard her scream. It must have been terrible for Sid. He, Crash, and Eddie were supposed to be watching her.

Well, now Sid wouldn't be allowed near the girl. Ever.

If, that is, we ever saw her again.

After the accident, Crash and Eddie had told me to go get my dad. I'd shaken him awake and pulled him along.

Then he said something crazy.

We.

Were going to...To...To go down the land of..._Dinosaurs._

What the heck was that supposed to mean?

My relatives were thinking the same thing.

"Buck! What are you talking about?" protested (Uncle) Matthias. "I told you all about it!" "DINOSAURS ARE EXTINCT!" he roared, shaking Dad by the shoulders. "If they are, well then that makes it all the safer for Peaches, doesn't it?" I locked eyes with him for a split second, silently asking him if I could tell Silas where we were going. He nodded faintly, and, though I wasn't sure, I though I caught him smirking out of the corner of my eye. Why couldn't he just let it go and understand that I DID NOT LIKE SILAS FOR ANYTHING MORE THAN A FRIEND?

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><p>"Hey, Tabitha!" called Silas as I walked into his father's map-sellingmaking place. He was covered in dust, and holding a crinkled map. "Hey, Si. You hear about what happened to Peaches?" "Yeah, Mom and Dad went over there. I would've gone my self, but _somebody'_s gotta watch this place." He clambered down the rickety wooden ladder he'd been standing on. "Right. So the herd is gonna go look for her..." "WHAT? Go look for her? How are they gonna get down there in the first place?" I shrugged. "They said something about Dinosaurs..." He laughed. "You're dad's more insane than I thought!" I lunged at him, knocking him to the ground with me on top of him. I blocked all thoughts of the romantic stories I'd read, thinking only of how he'd just insulted my father. "Take it back," I hissed. "Okay, okay. He's only a little insane," he whimpered. I stood and dusted myself off.

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><p><strong>Silas<strong>

Even after we bid farewell, I couldn't stop thinking about how only minutes before we'd been so close to each other...I shook away those thoughts. She was Tabitha Festus for crying out loud! I wouldn't be surprised if she died a perfectly happy old woman with no mate. She just wasn't one for romance.

Her dad teased us about our friendship, not often, as Tabitha always ended up socking, tackling, or occasionally pressure pointing (although the latter got her into trouble) him after each remark. But still. Enough to get me thinking...No. Don't be silly. If anything, she considers you a brother, I told myself.

But deep down, I mildly hoped I was wrong.

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><p><strong>Buck<strong>

Everyone was ready; Manny and Ellie were frantic. Crash and Eddie were annoyed at Manny for jumping whenever they said something that sounded even mildly like "Peaches" (this included Pear, Partridge, Pie, Peninsula, and Penguin). Melody, Dorothy, and Matthias were joining us, despite their uncertainty towards there being any other world besides the Ice Age. We'd found another entrance to the dino world some time ago, although it was much more treacherous than the last one.

_Half an Hour Later_

We trudged on, saying nothing. All chatter had ceased twenty minutes ago, and now everyone was concentrating on the person in front of them. Sid broke the silence. "So where do you think she'll be?" he lisped. "Well, this is just an estimated guess, but I'd say somewhere near the Plates Of Woe. Or perhaps Lava Falls." I heard Ellie whimper, and Matthias mutter something under his breath. Tabitha sighed loudly. "Is that far?" "Roughly a day's journey." She groaned. "Hey, as long as you stay in the middle of the path, you should be alright," I said. I chuckled, "Or at least you'll live longer than the last guy who fell down there." "How long did he live?" she inquired. "He didn't. He died when he fell." Ellie made a sound like she was going to cry. Melody punched me. Quickly, I added, "Of course, he was already well over seventy. And, to top it off, he fell into a dinosaur's mouth." "Buck, just shut up," growled Manny. "Oi, only _**we**_ can tell Buck to shut up," snapped Matthias. To me, he said, "Shut up." I wilted a little. Sid cried out, and we rushed over to see what was wrong.

_" Just shut up, Buck. I don't feel like talking." "Katherine-" "No, Buck, you don't understand." _

Soon enough, we found ourselves at the edge of a boiling cauldron of orange goo. Over the middle was stretched a small bridge, barely wide enough for a mammoth to squeeze through on tippy toe.

That is, if mammoths HAVE toes.

Do they? I mean, from a weasel's point of view they more or less have stumpy feet. Any way, Diego caught Sid by the scruff of his neck before he could fall in. Tabitha crept too close to the edge for my liking, and I gently pulled her back. Sure enough, the ground where she had been previously standing crumbled. I gave her a look that said, "See?" She looked frightened at the thought of being boiled weasel, and walked closer to me as the herd made their way to the bridge. Ellie took a step forward, but Manny stopped her. "Let me go first." To Diego, I whispered, "If it can hold him, it can hold us." It splintered a little as he stepped off onto the other side safely, and Ellie told us to go first. Diego went first, and then everyone else followed, including Ellie.

Once on the other side, we continued.

Finally (Praise God!), we saw a light.

_"When we die, do you think we'll really see a light?" "Gee...I...I don't really know. I mean, I would think so, since the sky is closer to the sun than we are on earth..." _

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><p><strong>Boom. Heh...I couldn't wait to write the next chapter. *blushes* don't hate me-<strong>

**Dot Warner (walks in): Because I'm cute.**

**Me: I wasn't going to say that...**

**Dot: I'm the cute one, so it doesn't matter.**

**Me: :(**

**Me: WAIT a minute! how'd you even get here! you're not even in my story!**

**Dot: Dunno. All I know is that I see Brad Pitt over there!**

**Yakko Warner (walks in): Girls, go fig.**

**Me: AAAAAAAAAH! WHERE ARE YOU COMING FROM?**

**The Brain (walks in): from the super magnetic infindibulator, of course.**

**Tabitha: That's all folks! Review please!**


	3. Turnip Licking Skunks?

**_So here's chappie number three. Yeah I dont own Ice Age blah blah blah..._**

**_again, this is Mwang's CO PARTNER NOT the real MWANG._**

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><p>"Whoa..." breathed Matthias. Buck was looking at his siblings with an 'I told you so' face. Dorothy didn't notice- - she was too busy gazing in awe at her surroundings with childlike innocence.<p>

They were standing, once again, in what many have come to call "Dinotopia".

But, they were not alone.

_"You're never alone."_

Mammal-wise, I mean.

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><p>Peaches cowered in the corner of the cave. Before her, a group of animals just as odd as her family bickered about how to "dispose of the creature". A very large skunk, a narrow eyed ferret with long fangs, a scrawny, hungry looking hyena who seemed to have a habit of not finishing his sentences, and a murderous looking wolf. "It's gotta have a family!" shrieked the hyena, breaking down into a fit of laughter. Peaches noted that he had a lazy eye. "Well, do ya have a family?" asked the ferret, prodding her with a sharp stick. When she didn't answer, her roared at her, "ANSWER ME, YOU COWARDLY NITWIT!" She whimpered, but nodded. The hyena faced the wolf, staggering. "Y-You see? I told-AH HA HA HA HA HA!" The wolf growled. The skunk just sat to the side, licking a turnip. He looked at the little mammoth, and gave a small wave before going back to licking his turnip.<p>

But Peaches didn't think he was friendly.

No, he was the one that had beat her with a stick not an hour before.

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><p><strong>Buck<strong>

"So how do we get to wherever we're going?" asked Matthias. "Oh, it's just a hop, skip, and a jump across the Jungle of Misery, hopefully we won't get...ah, held up again at the Chasm of Death, and after that it should be quite simple crossing the Plates of Woe. What's left of them, at least," I said casually. "What do you mean, what's left of them?" asked Tabitha. "Oh, well you see, there's not much left of them since Rudy plowed through there, and even less after our last visit with these crazy mammals." "Who are you calling crazy?" joked Manny. "Who's Rudy? You mean our sister?" "No- - No, of course I don't mean _her. _She's dead!" "Then who?" asked Melody. "The dinosaur, of course." Sid shouldered up to me. "So, Buck, old buddy old pal, whadya say we go- -" "Not today, sloth." "But- - but- - their my kids!" Manny rolled his eyes. "Sid they're not your kids. They belong to the Mommy Dinosaur, who is now taking care of them, just as she should be." Sid looked crestfallen. I said in a tone low enough for only Sid to hear, "We might run into them."

This cheered the fellow up quite a bit.

Manny made a move to start on our journey, and I stopped him. "All rules apply!" I said. "Rules?" asked Melody. "Rule number one: Always listen to Buck!" Matthias rolled his eyes. "Rule number two! Always stay in the middle of the path! Rule number THREE..." I paused dramatically. Sid ruined it by walking to back sadly. "Er...okay. That's taken care of. Rule number five does NOT apply UNLESS I say otherwise- -" "What's rule number five?" inquired Sid. I sighed. "That rule number two may be broken if there is a female involved or perhaps a cute dog. Rule number five only applies in and emergency that concerns life and death. Now enough of that, let's get a move on!" I clapped my hands once.

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><p><em>three hours later<em>

I kept my eye on Tabitha. I knew everyone thought that everything looked simply marvelous, but it just as deadly as it was pleasing to look at.

Sid was nearly sucked into a plant when he thought it was a mango. Lucky for him, I have quick reflexes. Manny started complaining that we MUST be lost, because we kept going through the same part of the jungle (which we weren't, it all looks nearly exactly the same throughout the whole forest), and then Matthias started questioning my ability on telling North from South.

"North is that way, you dumb chicken!" "No, it's not, North is THAT way" I pointed in the opposite direction. "You idjit, that's South!" "No it's not!" "Yeah, it is!" "Who's the idiot now?" "YOU ARE!" Pretty soon, we were talking over each other, with the rest of the herd just watching us.

He grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me furiously. "Are you daft? North is that way, South is that way- - you could be leading us into a perfectly deadly trap with you're sense of direction!" I skillfully twisted out of his grasp. "I'm daft? North is NOT that way!"

It must have been a good seven minutes before Melody gave a shrill whistle, which narrowly stopped us from wringing each other necks. "Matthias, North IS that way," she said. I smirked at him.

My victory didn't last long though.

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><p>Universal P.O.V. (No, not the movie making company! What's wrong with you?)<p>

Two screams pierced the air. Quickly, Buck looked for Tabitha.

She wasn't with them.

Neither was Sid.

Realizing the horrifying predicament they were in, he bolted towards the screams.

"Where's Sid?" asked Manny. "I don't know, but wherever it is, it can't be a good place," said Diego, following Buck. "_Stay on the path, Tabitha, please, listen to me..." _prayed Buck silently.

Meanwhile...

Tabitha shrieked as the dinosaur came closer to her. It. Was. HUGE. Whatever kind of dinosaur it was, at this size, it _had _to be Rudy- - Rudy, the dinosaur whom, not a day before, had been fairy tales to her. The beast roared in their faces, causing them to back up into the foliage. She glanced behind herself, quickly. No more than two yards away sat a beautiful flower, its purple petals cascading down the tree it was growing on. Dead in the center was a complicated map of thin threads, surrounding a black dart longer than her arm. She gulped and turned back to the overgrown lizard. Sid was screaming and flailing his arms, and "Rudy" must have gotten annoyed, for he made a swipe at the sloth. Sid went tumbling into a large tree, moaning. Tabitha leaped and placed herself in front of the defenseless sloth in a threatening position. The ferocious snowflake rolled his eyes- - and then stopped.

For the first time, he was getting a good look at this girl- - this stupid girl defending a stupid sloth. She looked a teensy bit like...No, it couldn't be. After all those years with Buck chasing him around, the weasel had only uttered something about having a family once, soon after the herd had left.

"I remember when _I_ had a kid...once, a long time ago...'Course, she's dead now," he'd added quietly. "And then YOU killed my pineapple, too!"

So no, there was no plausible way that the teen was his daughter. Unless...Unless...But no, even BUCK couldn't be THAT absent minded so as to forget he even had a child. At least, Rudy didn't think so.

Rudy forced himself back into reality. The she-weasel was helping the now-barely-conscious sloth up. _Perfect. _He raised his foot, preparing to smash them. Sensing something above them, the two looked up, terrified, and screamed louder than he'd thought possible. Thinking quickly, Tabitha grabbed a rock and threw it with all-too perfect precision at Rudy's eye. He grumbled and took a step back, annoyed. Before they could make a move to flee, he once again raised his foot and brought it down on them with an earth shaking _CRASH!_

Rudy had been inches- - _Inches- - _from smashing the two, when Buck had leapt without thinking and pushed them out of the way. Tabitha watched in horror as Rudy glanced down at his foot in satisfaction. Perhaps he'd gotten the pest this time...

Diego waited for Buck to pop up and yell, "Pop goes the weasel!" as he had last time. After a long minute, though, he began to worry.

Melody was the second to get there. Seeing her niece's terrified expression and Diego shocked face, along with the dinosaur pausing to look at his foot, she put two and two together.

"No," she whispered, shaking her head, "No."

Rudy lifted his foot daintily, and checked to see if he'd really gotten his enemy at long last...Suddenly, he heard a loud cry and his vision was filled with green smoke.

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><p>The five ran, following the path once more, just aiming to get away from Rudy and back to the herd. They'd been farther than they'd thought, though, and it took a while to get on the trail again. After around ten minutes of running, Melody's asthma started bothering her, and Sid's wheezing was terrible, and Diego feared his friend would suffer a heart attack. They stopped, all of them panting andor gasping for breath. "Buck I...I thought..." began Melody, but didn't bother finishing. She looked at her brother's wrist, which was twisted at an odd angle. She nodded at his wrist, which he looked at for a second, painfully managing to flex his fingers a bit. Then, remembering the events that had just passed, he whirled around to face Tabitha. _"What were you thinking?_" he shouted, Throwing his arms up in the air. He winced before continuing. "You could have been _killed._You AND Sid, the both of you! You didn't even stay on the path! Tabitha Anne Festus, WHAT IN THE BLOODY NAME O' 'E- - " "Buck," Melody narrowly stopped him from letting out a flurry of curse words (speaking of flurries, I would LOVE to have a MC Flurry right now!). "I don't think Sid's feeling okay," she said quietly. Indeed, a trickle of blood ran down the sloth's neck, and his normally tannish/greenish fur was streaked with black and red veins running up and down his body. Buck gently propped him up and turned him over. He frowned.

The rest of the herd joined them very soon. "What happened?" asked Manny. "Dude, we could hear you yelling at Tabitha from, like a mile away!" exclaimed Eddie. "It wasn't a mile!" Protested Eddie, "it was more like thirty yards." "Aw, what do I care?" "Boys," warned Ellie. "Hey, what's wrong with Sid?" asked Eddie. Buck frowned even more.

"I have _no_ idea," he stated sadly.


	4. On the brink of GAH!

**Sigh, I'm back AGAIN! anyway, sorry if the chapters seem to be declining in greatness...I don't know why i just don't think they're as good as they could be. Of course, a lot of PPL write a lot better than me, including some close friends who in real life have the same name as me OR as very rare name that means "life" OR a name that rhymes with Lenny...**

**I DON'T OWN ICE AGE BLABBLAHBLAH WHO CARES**

**...**

**maybe...**

**anyway, I'll try to put more "memories" in this one, as this story pretty much started with that. Don't ask how Rudy's alive, because now that I think about it, I think i said that Rudy had vanished or something in the first story.**

**Well maybe he went on vacation to get away from a certain pesky snack that won't let itself be eaten.**

**We'll just have to see, won't we? Well, this first part is told in Buck's POV until further notice...PS whenever it refers to "Dad" when in Tabitha's Point of View, it's Buck.**

**Just wanna make sure you've got that...**

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><p><em>"Buck! Where's Tabitha?" asked a frantic she-weasel. "I thought you had her!" "Well, I don't! How could you be so irresponsible?" "I thought you had her! How could <em>you _be so irresponsible?" "Don't argue with me Buck, Tabitha's missing!" She was panicking, so I had to calm her down. Patting her gently, a said, "She can't have possibly gone far. She's only five." "EXACTLY WHY WE NEED TO BE FRANTIC!" "Boo!" came a shrill voice from behind a tree. "Tabitha! Tabitha, don't you ever do that again! You scared me to death!" cried Katherine. I hugged the kit tightly and whispered in her ear, "Don't do that ever again for two reasons: I love you too much to lose you, and you're mother will have another panic attack."_

_~ Later ~_

_"Buck, she could have gotten killed!" "Katherine, I know; you don't think I was worried?" She sighed and took my hand in hers. "Promise me- - PROMISE me that you will strive to the best of you're ability to never let anything like this happen again." "I promise," I said solemnly. I then added, " Hey, you have responsibilities too." She smiled at me, "I give my word."_

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><p>"How can you not know what's wrong with him?" screeched Manny. "YOU LIVED HERE FOR WHO KNOWS HOW LONG! You've GOT to know, or else he could DIE! What do you mean you don't know? You know, all right! I know that much for sure! You just don't care about one sloth- - to you carnivores, one dead sloth is one dead sloth; nothing more, nothing less!" That last comment stung badly. Diego looked taken aback, as did Ellie...Well, basically everyone did. Except Sid, of course. "Is that what you think of me?" asked Diego quietly. Manny looked at him, suddenly aware of what he'd just said. "No, no Diego, I didn't mean it that way..." "Well it sure seemed like it." "Don't you sass me, Diego!" "Shut up, Manny, just SHUT. UP. You think we're always going to let you off the hook for consistently blowing up in our faces? Well, you thought wrong," sneered Tabitha, "Shouldn't we- - the apparently feeling-less carnivores be angry, NOT YOU?" Her voice faltered at the end of her insult, though. I swallowed, and resumed my 'Take Charge' position. "Look here, mate," I said sternly to him, "if you don't want my help, by all means, go after the mammoth by yourself, but I meant it when I said I didn't know what's wrong with him. I've been bitten by plenty of bugs, and maybe once or twice I've been very close to dying of plant poisoning, but never in my life have I seen anything like...Like <em>this."<em>

"Whats-more," I continued, " One dead sloth is _not_ one dead sloth to someone who happens to eat meat if we know the sloth. If we hate the sloth and they die then...Well I guess you wouldn't be too terribly sad, now would you? Whereas if the sloth was your FRIEND, maybe you'd care for him! Right now, I am on the brink of just..." I sighed and threw my hands up in the air,"GAH!" "Nice word," said Dorothy. I grinned briefly at her. Turning back to the mammoth, I said, " You will respect everyone here; you will _listen_ to me. But, at this moment in time, you have two choices: save your daughter, or save Sid. Knowing you, you'd say Peaches, but then, of course...Sid would probably die...and then _you'd_ be the one to not care about one dead sloth." He looked at me queerly. "I can't...I mean...Of course we've got to go find Peaches, she won't last long here!" "Well neither will Sid," said Diego. Sensing that Manny was about to lose his temper again, I cast him a warning glance. Sid moaned. I examined his back more carefully. In the midst of the maze of black and red were two purple dots below his neck. I gently rubbed my finger against them, and Sid jolted. I was taken by surprise, but nonetheless worried for him.

"Diego," I said slowly. "Yes?" "Would you- - with help- - be able to take Sid to the surface and find Old Maggie? She...She's the only person I can think of who'd be able to help him..." "By myself?" asked Diego incredulously. "No, not by yourself! Matthias will go with you- - Crash too." "What?" asked Crash, Matthias, and Ellie simultaneously. "Think: buddy system," I said with forced cheerfulness. Diego furrowed his brow. "I...Guess. Maybe..." Matthias waved his hands in my face. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! No, way, mate. You're," he jabbed a finger at me, "going to send _us,"_ he waved a paw at Diego and Crash, "into that PLACE," he pointed at the path we had just come from, "ALONE?" I shook my head. "No, you won't be alone. There's going to be Diego, Crash, you, and Sid too, although he doesn't really count at this point." "BUT THERE'S DINOSAURS!" He shook me by the shoulders frantically. "Again with the man-handling!" I exclaimed. "But..This is suicide!" "Well, there's no police around to arrest you." "Buck! How is this going to make this situation any better?" I sighed. Sometimes Matthias can be...Too sane. "You and the others form a group. Group sticks together. Group that sticks together goes back the way they came without heading off the path and hopefully not running into Rudy and most definetly not bugging any other plants or animals. Group goes to surface. Finds old Maggie. Prays to God that Old Maggie knows what the heck is wrong with Sid, and if she does then HOORAY! Everybody's happy! If not then you better start planning the funeral service." "But what if something happens?" asked Crash. "Just holler and I'll come runnin'. Unless I'm dead, o' course. Then...Well hollerin' wouldn't do you much good then, now would it?" "And if you can't hear us?" asked Matthias. I shrugged. "Oh well. Use you're noggins then. Now go, every minute we stand here chatting is a minute less of Sid."

Suddenly, Sid spazzed out and bit my hand, then collapsed into unconsciousness. I pushed him off with a small cry- - that was my good hand. "What's wrong with him now?" asked Manny. "I don't know so stop askin'!" "Well, you're out so called 'tour guide' so I was only assuming you would know!" "Manny," said Ellie, giving him "The Look". Manny shut up.

"They're gonna get into trouble," said Dorothy quietly, "you want me to go?" I hesitated before answering; I didn't want my youngest sister to get hurt. "Just be careful. Crash is a bit of an imbecile at times." She grinned, "I've noticed." Diego gently carried Sid by the scruff of his neck and, after a brief goodbye, led the rest of his group back to the surface. "Well, mammals, I suggest we get going now," I said. I glanced back at the two weasels, the possum, and the saber, who were growing distant, and sighed. If me and Matthias hadn't been so stupid...Maybe none of this would be happening. "It wasn't you fault," said Melody, laying a hand on my shoulder. I gave her a small smile before we continued on our rescue mission.

Tabitha stayed by my side, having been set on the edge by the close encounter with Rudy. As for my wrist, Melody bugged for nearly half an hour before I finally gave in to her bandaging it.

"Buck, if you don't let me bandage it, not ONLY will it heal wrong and probably prohibit you from ever using it again, BUT I will _ensure_ that somebody will wander off the path..." "If I let you will you promise to stop annoying me?" She thought for a moment, "Up to some degree." "Deal." Using a small stick and a leaf, she quickly made a makeshift splint, saying it would "have to do for now." As for the area where Sid had bit me, when the herd was distracted by a large butterfly (aye, the same one that I knew when he was a caterpillar), I quickly grabbed a small, prickly fruit from a nearby tree, smashed it, and rubbed part of the squishy inside on the affected area. I hid my hand from them as best as possible. Whatever had bitten or poisoned Sid was apparently transferable through blood/saliva. Itty bitty tendrils of black creeped away from the bite. I knew I should be worried, but first we had to find the mammoth. After all, the poison was far enough from my neck/head so that it would take a while (maybe days) for it to reach my brain, giving us plenty of time (if we hurried) to find the child and get back to the surface. At least, I hoped so.

* * *

><p><em>That night...<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Tabitha's P.O.V.<strong>

* * *

><p>"...And there I was, on the razor's edge of oblivion," I'd heard this story before, but for some reason...Out here, in this hostile environment, it seemed so much more fantastic. "...Back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth!" He paused for dramatic silence, as always. "And back and forth and back and forth..."<p>

After the story was finished, Ellie wasn't in the mood to hear any other stories. Dad gave her a funny look, kind of like he'd been there before. Oh, wait, he had. With me. And Mom. _Mom._

_"Mommy, when I grow up, will I be just like you?"_

I pushed that thought away. No use dwelling in the past.

Dad plopped down next to me, suddenly quiet. He fiddled with his paws, and I caught a glimpse of the paw that Sid had bit. _Oh no,_ I thought. Squiggly, black thingies were covering his hand, just as they'd covered Sid's back. _He's going to die. _No, he's not! I told myself desperately. I looked up at him fearfully. He wouldn't meet my gaze, only pulled his paw away from me when I tried to see it again, to try to make sure that I had only imagined it. He leaned back against a tree trunk casually, as if nothing was wrong. He picked up a sharp rock and a small piece of wood laying nearby, and began to whittle. I watched in silent awe as the chunk of timber became a small figurine, looking a little bit like my mother, though a little hard to tell because it wasn't finished. Perhaps I wasn't the only one who'd been thinking about her as of late...

"Can you teach me?" I asked my dad. "Sure." I quickly searched for a small piece of wood, and found one. It had a reddish hue to it. "Perfect," he said. He handed the rock to me, and positioned my hands "just so."

Eddie listened in as he taught me patiently, correcting my mistakes. When it was all said and done, my fingers were covered in nicks and a little blood, but I was nonetheless proud of my work. It was a _very_ small bowl, certainly not big enough for anyone larger than an infant shrew to use, but still. "You're good for a first-timer," Buck/Dad commented. "Can I try?" inquired Eddie.

He was handed the makeshift knife (Dad had long-since lost the tooth-knife he'd apparently once had), and another small piece of wood.

I couldn't help but snicker when he produced what looked like a Peaches-made, sculpture version of Sid. "Be nice," hissed Dad.

* * *

><p><strong>REVIEW PLEAZ Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z<strong>

***poof* Wakko Warner (who happens to be owned by W.B. along with his siblings): Hey, look! I just *poofed* into this place!**

***poof* Yakko: G'night ervybody!**

***poof* Dot: (irritably) When are you going to write a fanfiction about US?**

**Me: all in good time, my my other friend agrees to help me. for now... Patience is the key.**

**Peaches: *poofing* is a lot of fun.**

**Yakko and Wakko: (snicker)**

**Manny: oh, grow up! (tries to hide grin)**

**Wakko and I: (roll around on the floor laughing our heads off)**

**Yakko: And that just about wraps it up for today folks! More Peaches to come!**

**Wakko: MMMM, I LOVE peaches! They are deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelicious!**

**Manny: WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY DAUGHTER?**

**Wakko: I thought HER name was Mango...**

**Me: hey, I knew someone nicknamed Mango!**

***poof* Porky Pig (another WB trademark): Th-th-th-that's all folks!**


	5. Foreign fruit stand

**Yola! READ and Review. Constructive criticism wanted.**

**Insert Disclaimer here.**

**More peaches in this chapter.**

* * *

><p>Peaches whimpered as a female saber approached her. It was around four in the morning, and the following night the saber and the rest of the criminals had been talking hotly.<p>

"I don't care if there's a child in there, I want you to kill them! When I returned to my pack, that saber had betrayed us. Because I was such a small female, and little help, without Diego to defend me, they kicked me out. Maybe, at one time, we were friends, but now, I want you to kill them all. For revenge, for food, and for all these times we've been starving." "What about that kid?" asked the wolf, pointing to Peaches. The saber smiled ruefully at her. "She'll be our plaything," she said. She chuckled cruelly. "Yes, I believe that's an excellent plan."

Now, as the saber approached her, Peaches felt terrified. Alone. Defenseless.

_Abandoned._

* * *

><p><em>"How do ya feel?" murmured Buck into his mate's ear. She gave a muffled groan, burying her face into her pillow. He sighed and rested his hand on her back. She raised her head just long enough to say, "Stupid flu." He chuckled. "You want breakfast?" "Please," she mumbled. <em>

* * *

><p>Melody shook her brother awake, rousing him from sleep.<br>"Leave me alone," came a muffled groan from Buck as Melody tried to wake him up. "Buck, we need to get moving." He batted her away with the hand that Sid had bitten. Seeing something peculiar, she grabbed his gasped, and Buck flipped over because he was in an awkward position. "What now?" "OH MY GOSH!" "Shut up, Melody," he hissed, "you're goin' to wake everyone and everything up within a mile's radius." "Buck, when Sid bit you, he gave you the poison!" "_Shh!_"he hissed again. "No, don't shush me! This is dangerous!"

"Hey, what's all the commotion about?" moaned Eddie. "_Nothing."_ "The bleedin' sloth gave him the pesticide!" "What?" asked Ellie groggily. Melody was starting to hyperventilate. "You could...You could..." "I could slap you right now for waking me up. The sun's not even up!" "I thought you were an early riser," said Manny. "Anyway, it'll help us find Peaches sooner..." Buck gave his twin a warning glance, and she reluctantly dropped the subject.

But, she was not about to let her twin in any more danger than need be.

* * *

><p>"So," rambled Eddie, "I was at this one fruit stand, right? And there was this foreign lady working there, right? And then so I'm all like, 'Can I have some mangoes?' And she's all like, '<em>Gusto mo ng ilang mga mansanas<em>_?_' And I was all like,'No, lady, I want some mangoes! Man-goes.' So then SHE was like, '_Homines ambulantes? Paenitet me, duro headed insolens puer hicfructus modo vendat._' And I'm like if you're gonna own a fruit stand make sense! Well, I never went back THERE again." "I don't think she liked you," commented Tabitha. "Why?" asked Eddie. Tabitha shrugged, "No reason. No reason at all."

Manny glanced at Buck. "Hey, weasel, why so quiet?" he asked. Buck looked up,"Huh?" Melody rolled her eyes and thumped his head. "?_Por que_?" she asked. "Oy! I've got enough brain damage as it is!" protested Buck. "And believe me, he's got a LOT," teased Manny. "Too much," agreed Melody. "So," began Ellie with a worried expression, "how long do you think it'll take to find Peaches?" Buck shrugged; Ellie silently noted that Tabitha's shrug was nearly exactly like his. "I'd say, if we're lucky, roughly...half a day? Of course...You're not the luckiest of mammals. You have a habit of losing things. So I'd say we'll probably find her within...Oh, maybe two days?" Melody frowned and caught his eye, mentally inquiring, _But can you make it back to the top in time?_ He gave a glance that read: _'Course, don't I have a habit of always pulling through?_ Ellie seemed worried, still, but left the matter alone, quickening her pace ever so slightly.

There was a long silence, which Tabitha broke with careful expertise. "Okay, so, okay so like one time, see one time Randy Beaman's aunt was sitting on the...on the front porch and she was, and she was in her bare feet, and she felt a lick and she thought it was a dog licking her feet but it wasn't, it was this crazy guy that did that a lot. Yeah. True story. I think, I heard it from this one kid..." Manny gave Buck an incredulous look, thinking, "Man, she's just as crazy as her dad!" Eddie, on the other hand was amazed. "Whoa, what did she do to get rid of him?" Tabitha looked at her dad, thinking, 'Is this guy serious?" Buck nodded slightly. "Uh...I think she called the cops or something...I mean...I would get freaked out if some body was licking my feet..." Ellie shook her head, momentarily amused, "Where do you guys come up with these things? They're just so...random." "We're not random!" protested Tabitha, "we just think way faster than you do because the complexity of our encephalons are much more advanced than your brains, which lack cognizance in specific areas." Buck looked confused. "But mammoths are supposed to have a great memory..." "Well...still."

* * *

><p>Peaches was crying hard. "How do I shut the thing up?" demanded the tigress. "Duh...Well maybe she'd like a turnip too," suggested the skunk. The female was losing her temper, so she grabbed the slimy turnip and threw it at the young mammoth's face. This made her cry even more. "Maybe she likes carrots?" "SHUT UP YOU IMBECILE!"<p>

* * *

><p>"Sid? Sid, are you awake?" asked Dorothy. She gently spooned some mushy food into his mouth and forced him to swallow. He sputtered, but didn't seem to be awake. "We need to get going," said Diego, scooping the sloth up.<p>

"Hey, Diego?" asked Matthias. "Mmgh?" "Do you think the...virus, or whatever it is can be transmitted through spit?" Diego shrugged. "Why?" Because Sid was in his mouth, the word 'Why' came out sounding like, "Moo?" Matthias also shrugged, "I mean...Sid bit Buck earlier...Right before we left." Diego's brow creased, and he put Sid down for a moment. "Well," he said, "We'll just have to hope for the best."

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry if it was too short.<strong>

**Anyway...**

**Yakko Warner*: Why are we constantly at the end of every chapter?**

**Me: Psh, I don't know.**

**Maggie (Peace Light Victory's property, FYI so DON'T SUE MEH PLEAZ): oops, sorry! Wrong story! (turns to leave to go back to PEACELIGHTVICTORY'S profile thinger)**

**Me:... .. ... ... .. ... ... ... .. ... ... .. ... .. ... .. ..see ya...**

**Buck: *yawns* I feel kinda...sleepy... **

**Me: Ha ha, you'll be feeling very sleepy as this story goes on.**

**Tabitha: WHOA! I FOUND THIS MAGICAL BOX THING!**

**Dot (Warner, also owned by WB with her Bros.): Gee, somebody's been living under a rock for the last century. It's a Television.**

**Me: Hey, be nice or...Or...NO FANFICTION!**

**Wakko*: *whimpers* okay.**

**(awkward silence follows)**

**Ellie: So...**

**Crash: Yup...**

**(more silence)**

**Me: WHOA omg did you hear about how Randy Beman's grandparents got stuck in an elevator and they were in there so long they became skeleton people?**

**Manny: No.**

**Wakko: HECK YEAH! HIGH FIVE!**

***high fives***

**Yakko: *blows kiss* GOOOOODNIGHT EVERYBODYYYYY! *waves madly at crowd***

***copy right Warner Brothers/Steven Spielberg/Tom Ruegger**


	6. Four is death

**So, I'm back and I am flappin' free! (not really). anyway, here's chapter six; it feels like i haven't updated in years. I'm hoping to get more reviews than this story's prequel, and so far...it's actually doing a little better. **

**I HOPE that I include ENOUGH action/suspense/interesting-ness to keep you guys reading...**

**if not...**

**help me.**

**lend a hand and tell me if it's not good please!**

**as usual, this is Mwang's CO-PARTNER, Secret Agent Smart (I'm the one who answers all those PM messages and writes just about everything).**

**don't own ice age, blah blah blah**

* * *

><p>Buck looked exhausted, and he looked a little sick. Ellie was starting to worry about his health. What on earth could have made this optimistic weasel look so...old? She thought back on the previous events, but couldn't think of anything...<p>

"Well, here we are, at the Chasm of Death," he said, forcing brightness into his voice. "Let's try not to get stuck again, shall we?" "Again?" asked Tabitha. "Long story. Maybe I'll tell it to you sometime. Anyway...For now, just...get in. Ladies first." Ellie stepped into the "elevator" thingy, followed by a hesitant Melody and a curious Tabitha. "Remember, keep your back straight, eyes forward, and don't breathe in the toxic fumes if you'd like to live." "Toxic fumes?" asked Melody. "Yup," and pulled the vine, and they shot toward the other side unharmed.

"THAT. WAS. AWESOME!" yelled Tabitha. "Can we do it again? Huh, huh?" Buck grinned at her, but shook his head. "Not today, mate."

Manny climbed in cautiously, and held his breath. It all seemed to be going fine; he was gliding smoothly along when...Thunk! The elevator thing hit a kink. Buck muttered something under his breath. He crawled up the vine and began silently un-kinking it. Manny's face was turning a light shade of blue, and Ellie was getting worried. Running out of breath himself, Buck scampered back to the rest of the herd. "Ellie, can you hold this? Thanks." He handed her a vine. He began twisting another and looping it around a tree trunk. He took the vine from her and knotted it together.

Manny couldn't take it. He HAD to breathe, even if it meant total embarrassment and unstoppable laughter that could ultimately lead to his death. He took the teeniest breath possible, and could barely suppress a giggle.

Buck tugged lightly on the vine, testing it. It seemed sturdy enough.

A suppressed laugh came from within the cavern, along with high-pitched laughter that sounded suspiciously like Crash and Eddie. Ellie took the rope and pulled hard on it, jolting the passengers, but nothing more. Confused, Buck fiddled with it again, hoping to get them out before- -"ME, I WANT A HOOLA-HOOP!" Eddie sang in a high pitched tone. Buck sighed.

They were singing the Christmas song.

Again.

Tabitha clambered up the vine and helped her dad untie one of the vines, whispering, "What's wrong with them?" "The fumes," he answered simply. He gave Ellie a signal to tug on the vine again. Less than a minute later, two possums and a mammoth came tumbling out, all hysterical with laughter. Ellie glared at her husband, who, in response, apologetically got up and dusted himself off. Tabitha smirked; she was never going to let them live this down. Melody raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. She was too bonny* to say anything. "Well, Manny, are you ready to go now?" asked Ellie, somewhat irritated. "Uh...Yeah. Come on, let's...Go," he said in that usual boring-ish voice of his. "So what are we going to do next?" asked Tabitha.

Approximately four hours later.

"I'm tired," whined Crash. "Yeah, me too," agreed Eddie for the four-thousand-nine-hundredth time. Buck couldn't take it any more. This constant, repeated whining of the same words, "I'm tired," and "Me too," and "Are we there yet? What about now?".

"If we take a break now," he said through gritted teeth, "would you be so kind as to hold your tongue longer than one minute?" Manny gave him a funny look. The weasel was usually tolerant to all the opossum's antics, but then, of course, everybody has a breaking point. The possums agreed reluctantly to seal their mouths shut if they took a ten minute break from the journey.

But then, mothers don't always agree with things

"No," said Ellie firmly, and with a hint of rising anger. "We are not stopping. Peaches might get hurt! We can't waste time resting!" Her voice rose with each word that passed through her lips. "Mate, just calm down, we'll find her," shushed Melody. "How do you know? She could be anywhere! Anywhere! And we don't even know for sure where she could be! How do you know we'll find her? She could be lost forever, and eaten! Or squished! Or she might walk off a cliff!" "Well, that last one is rather unlikely," said Buck, trying to regain control. "Says who?" ranted Ellie. "She might be getting chased by pterodactyls right now, ready to eat her soft little flesh, and you wouldn't even care!"

Buck waited for her to quiet down. Ellie eventually broke down into tears, her husband quietly comforting her.

After a little while, the weasel cleared his throat. "Well, we won't get any closer if we spend time weeping, now will we?" Ellie managed to choke out, "I'm sorry." Manny helped her to her feet, and they continued on without further complaint.

Dorothy went all around the small town they'd found themselves in, knocking on all the doors, asking if they knew of an "Old Maggie".

All said no.

Matthias sighed heavily, and Diego set the sloth down. Sid opened his yellow eyes halfway and looked at Diego pathetically. "It's okay buddy, we'll get you help," said Diego reassuringly. He picked up the sloth and followed the small female.

"Nobody's even heard of her!" cried Dorothy, exasperated. "Let's try the next town," suggested Matthias.

"Did somebody say my name?" yelled a confused voice from behind them. They turned to see an old she-beaver looking around for the person who called her. "Old Maggie!" cried Dorothy. "We need your help! It's Sid!"

The old beaver shook her head sadly, gazing mournfully at the limp sloth lying in her den. "There is only one thing that can cure the poison of the plant you described, and as far as I know, it's extinct." Diego looked at her, suddenly very worried, "You mean..." "Yes, son. Your friend might just die unless...Well, unless some one can find the plant that cures the poison, but believe me, I've searched all over for that cure, and my last patient didn't make it," she said sadly. She locked eyes with the tiger, now serious. "Did the sloth bite anyone?" Diego and Dorothy looked at each other. "Well, he did bite Buck..." "Where is he?" demanded Maggie. "Helping the herd find Peaches..." Maggie exploded. "Well, what in heaven's name is he doin' there? He should be HERE! OBVIOUSLY, he's gotten the poison second-handedly!" she pulled at the fur on her hair. She'd known the weasel for a while and had helped him in some difficult situations involving wounds and death—she didn't want that work to be for naught. Matthias grabbed her arm, "Where does the antidote grow?" She sighed. "Usually near volcanic climate…But, like I said, it may as well have died with the dinosaurs." "If we can find it, can you ensure that they'll live?" Old Maggie pondered this for a moment. "I'd say the sloth has about three days left, and your brother has 'bout four." Dorothy's face paled, and she suddenly found herself groping for a seat. Matthias shook his head as if a mosquito was buzzing around him. "I'm sorry, did you say my younger brother has four days to live?"


	7. The pineapple acted that way, too

**Well, sorry for the super magnetic conductive wait for this chapter but I couldn't really think of how exactly to word some of the parts of this chapter.**

**I don't own Ice Age and all that good stuff...**

**Anyway I hope this chapter isn't too bad. Or too short.**

**Actually we/I (mostly I) were hoping you might find it quite dandy...**

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry, did you say my little brother has four days to live?"<p>

No. This couldn't be happening. Four days to save his brother's life.

_Four days._

Matthias had faced death before, three times, actually. Once when his parents and five siblings died, again when Katherine-his sister in law-had died, and then when a still-rather-distressed-and-depressed-Buck had disappeared one night during a particularly fierce snowstorm, .

But this was different...He didn't know how, and he didn't know why, but-  
>"Unfortunately, yes, I did say that. And let's not forget Sid's mere three days. So, if you think you can find it...I suggest you go within the next ten minutes. Every second passed is a second lost." All three of them made a sudden movement towards the door. "Wait," instructed Old Maggie.<br>So they waited (if rather impatiently).

* * *

><p>While a certain part of the herd was waiting for further instruction, another certain part of the herd had stopped for a water break after two opossums had begun to feel woozy and thirsty.<br>Very thirsty.  
>As the rest of the group lapped up water, or in the mammoth's case, drank it like a mammoth, Buck let his legs crumble beneath him. Don't worry, this is just figurative language, his legs were still intact, I merely meant to indicate that he suddenly and rather ungracefully plopped down on a rock along the river bank.<p>

Tabitha cautiously crept up to her dad, who currently had his head buried in his hands...Er, paws. "Dad?"she asked softly. "Hm?" "Aren't you thirsty? I mean, 'cause..." He tilted his head to look at her, a small smile playing at his lips. "Since when were you the parent around here?" Tabitha blushed beneath her fur. "What do you mean?"  
>His smile looked sad now. "You know, your mum always used ta act like that. Well, not <em>always<em>, but..." He trailed off. "Come to think of it, the pineapple acted that way too...sometimes. The rest of the time she was angry, not to mention ugly."  
>Tabitha sat down, willing the wet blurriness in her vision to go away.<br>Gosh, where's a mom when you need her? Thought Tabitha.  
>Because right now she needed her more than ever.<p>

* * *

><p>"So, I was thinking about painting the kid with hot tar and turnips," said the skunk. "I was thinking about tickling her until she suffocated. Heh...HAHAHAHAHHA," said the hyena. The wolf rolled his eyes. "You do that, and she'll die before the Mistress can play with her. Besides, we need to think of a way to get the rest of them freaked out. It'll make killing them all the more fun." "If you<em> freak<em> them out _too much_, the _meat_ will become too gamey," the ferret half hissed. "Then- Then we can tenderize them!" screeched the hyena. The ferret, Jose, rolled his eyes. This guy was stupid. "That's not a bad idea!" said the skunk. Jose couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I like that idea," said the wolf.  
>Imbeciles.<br>"Tenderize them? With what? The fat mammoth? Nah. I say we drive them off a cliff, then collect the meat. Anyway, the sloth's as good as dead and the male weasel will be dead in a few days," stated Jose maliciously.  
>"How?" asked the skunk. "How? Amadán, it is simple. Do you...Remember that supposedly extinct plant? The poison one? The one that caused an epidemic of deaths over a century ago?" Amadán nodded ,"Yeah..." The wolf, Damian, replied, "What about this plant?" Jose grinned evilly.<p>

"I found one, and it was a simple feat to guide them to it."

* * *

><p><em>Yep. Definetly too short. Oh well. nothing we can do about it now...<em>


	8. Epidemic?

**sORRY FOR NOT updating! I'm back on again! i gave it up for lent, y'see...**

**ANYwho...so...this chapter might not be all that great but dont worry:**

**THE ACTION IS COMING!**

**HEART WRENCHING DEATHS!**

**PAIN**

**SADNESS**

**THEN**

**a passion fruit!**

* * *

><p>"But what if it becomes an epidemic and kills us all?" squeaked Amadan. Jose rolled his eyes<em>. Then we kill the sick and burn the bodies before they infect us<em>, he thought. What he said was different. "Don't worry. It's under control," he growled.

"Peaches!" called Eddie hoarsely. They'd been calling her name and scavenging for clues for hours, venturing off trails at times. "PEACHES!" yelled Manny desperately. Tabitha was bored, worried, and fed up. "PEACHES IF YOU HERE US YOU BETTER GET YOUR STINKY BUTT OVER HERE THIS INSTANT BEFORE YOU WAKE UP ONE DAY WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO TALK," she screamed. "Yikes," commented Crash, fingering his throat. "Don't threaten her!" said Manny threateningly. "Why not? It's not like she can hear us. I mean, if I was a little kid lost in a land of dinosaurs and I heard my Mom screeching my name like a madwoman, I'd make haste." Buck gave her a look that said, _You're not helping._ Manny sighed. "Maybe we should look somewhere else, then…You know, cover more ground." Buck raised an eyebrow. "And what if she's around the corner, having woken up without the ability to speak?" Manny looked forlorn, and his eyes grew distant. _Oh, boy, here comes a long story about how back on the farm they covered every square inch of ground with corn seed,_ thought Tabitha. She walked away to where Ellie was. "I already lost one child, I'm not going to let that happen again. What do you think would be better—You've been in this situation before…" Buck winced. "Well, it's not like I succeeded, or anything. In finding Tabitha, I mean." "What _didn't_ you do when you searched?" "I didn't suspect that she could have gotten so far in such a short time. From what I've been told, while I was still searching within a five-mile radius, she was almost twenty miles away." Manny said nothing.

Everything seemed hopeless.

"PEACHES!" screamed Ellie desperately. "ANSWER US!" A flock of dormant butterflies exploded into flight, and a few vegetarian dinosaurs stopped grazing to start gazing at the weird furry thing making loud noises.

Ellie could see why Buck had gone insane, living down here with no other "intelligent" life. Everything down here was survival: eat, sleep, lay an egg, claw the eye out of someone.

It was almost as if they, the herd, were all alone.

Or so she thought.

"Maggie," Matthias tapped his foot impatiently. "Whatever you're goin' to tell us, could you…I don't know, tell us?" "All in good time, son. There are a few things you need to know about the plant, and the illness.

The plant is easy to miss. It looks so common. It has seven white petals and orange pollen, the flower is about the size of Matthias's fist. It's found in volcanic, rocky-type areas. Like on cliffs near a caldera—that sort of thing. The illness…The illness is another matter."

"Receiving the illness second-handedly, or third-handedly would be a slower death that having been stabbed by the plant itself. The poison makes its may into the bloodstream, and as you may have noticed, the vein-like marks appear on the victim's skin. It will, at first, appear as though they've caught the flu, but the condition will worsen quickly. Exhaustion, nausea, fever, and violent coughing, accompanied by vomiting are some symptoms." "Vomiting? Sid didn't…at least not…okay perhaps…" Maggie glanced at Dorothy. "Yes,vomiting blood; coughing up blood. It's a very painful way to die. Added to this, vivid hallucinations may occur in some cases, as well as dizziness." The she-weasel's face was white.

This would not be easy.


	9. Hallucinations and other weird stuff

**Well, lookie here, folks!****so u may have noticed i changed the title to something slightly more...long.**

**ANYWAY.**

**chapter nine yay**

**on with the story!**

**this chapter is rated a rating for hallucinations sadness and vivid hallucinations. much confusion experience, which will you. that was a bad impersonation of yoda. please forgive me. before i say something really stupid...:**

**INSERT DISCLAIMER HERE.**

**also, i'm going to try to include the british accents now..in CHAPTER NINE YAY**

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><p>Evening: the herd was setting up camp. Buck had gone to get firewood- or was it fruit? Melody had forgotten. But whatever it was, nothing should take this long. She was worried. She wrung her paws. "Manny, he's been gone a while, don't ya think?" Manny rolled his eyes and huffed, "For all we know he could be chasing Rudy. The guy's madder than the mad hatter." Melody winced, "But really Manny. I don't think...I mean, I think...Perhaps somethin's wrong. He's...He was sick earlier. And I..." "If by 'sick', you mean mentally ill, by which 'perhaps' you mean crazy- he's always crazy. Get used to it." "Manny!" scolded Ellie. "Don't mock me, Manny," warned Melody, "Tabitha wasn't the only one who learned to fend for herself. And that's not what I meant-" "Then what did you mean? Listen, we've got better things to worry about-"<p>

"No, _you_ listen!" yelled Tabitha. She looked frightened and angry- a look that made her scarier than normal. "Listen, _mammoth_, you don't understand this. You don't know what it's like to be an...an _orphan_, to have to do _everything_ yourself (even stuff that you don't know how to do), to have nobody there for you. You learn everything by yourself or _die._ It's different when you're a kid. You're vulnerable; and, evidently, tastier. Okay, that sounded really weird. But besides the point!" She looked Manny in the eyes, and said quietly, "He's. All. I've. Got." "Well, I'm sorry for your loss, but I'm not risking my family to go after him! He can take care of himself!" "Fine, when there's three of us dead, maybe then you'll come looking for someone other than your daughter. Without us, you won't find her."

She ran off into the wilderness, catlike and silent.

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><p>"Tabitha! Come back!" screamed Melody. Her thoughts went something like...This:<p>

_Crud, my niece is missing!_

_Crap, my brother's missing!_

_Dang it, Peaches is still missing._

_And my niece is missing and probably going to get killed!_

"Don't worry," reassured Ellie, "we'll find her." Melody nodded grimly, "Aye, I believe you. The question is, alive, or dead? And when? Because the last time somebody said that (it was me, by the way) we didn't find her until she had been presumed dead for years and her fathah had gone crazy for a number o' reasons."  
>Silence.<p>

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><p>Buck had had a splitting headache for most of the day. He chose the job that didn't require anybody else to come with him-gathering food- because he was relishing silence at the moment. But then things got really weird. And then, they got downright scary.<p>

He reached for the kiwi; after he picked this, he'd have enough food to feed all of them. But there was something strange about it. Could he have mistaken it for something else? No, he thought, it's a kiwi alright. But he picked the fruit and looked down at it, and dropped it, horrified. Maggots, worms, and ants swarmed the fruit. He brushed off his hands out of habit, but realized there was more than just a couple of ants.

They covered his arm, those horrible little nasties. But the worst thing was: they hurt. The insects were biting him. Frantically, he dropped whatever food he was holding to brush them off. But they seemed to be multiplying, and were crawling up his neck. Panicking, he swatted at them, cursing and nearly falling out of the tree. He put one hand on the branch to balance himself as he tried to shake them off, but abruptly drew himself back upon seeing the bugs attacking the tree. He fell for what seemed like eons but was probably three seconds. He braced himself to land on dirt, but he didn't. It hurt like he'd fallen on packed dirt, but when he looked down he was on a rock in the middle of a river of lava. The falls was coming up fast.

Before he could think about how to go against the current without dying, he heard a cry. He turned, and saw Tabitha hanging precariously from a low ledge on the side of the cliff. Scared out of his wits he hopped onto another "floating" rock drifting downstream. He did this again until he was on a rock that was really, really hot, but was not moving, and was not lava. He yelled at her to let goo, promising he would catch her. His daughter hesitated, but obeyed, trusting him.  
>And he didn't catch her.<br>He lunged to do so, but missed her, and her sweaty fur brushed his finger tips for a split second before she fell screaming into the river of fire. And then he fell in too.

He resurfaced, panting and dripping wet. He was no longer at Lava Falls, but there was still fire. He choked on ash, and called out his daughter's name. He waded out of the river, and narrowly missed being squished by a flaming tree.

This wasn't Dinotopia at all.  
>The horror dawned on him and he looked down at himself: a much younger version of Buck, maybe nine or ten years old.<br>He leaped back into the river in a desperate attempt to avoid the fire and swam to the other side. He crawled out again, and ran without knowing where to go. His foot landed in some sort of hole that had been covered with debris before, and he was stuck. He called out for help, screaming for his older sister, Rudith, because in his fuzzy memory she had saved him before dying here. A chill ran down his spine despite the heat, and he realized that no one was coming, and somehow he got out and was running again.

But he was somewhere else again, somewhere cold and white, and red. Red stuff stained the snow, and his youngest sister was beside him, bleeding from various wounds. Part of his mind told him to leave or they would both die, but then he looked away from his surroundings and down at _her_, lying at his knees. Golden fur stained with blood, and a bloodied, feminine face looked at him weakly, whispering something urgently that he couldn't hear. He leaned in, shakily asking, "What?" and found himself looking into the crimson eye of Rudy.

Rain poured down, and it burned his skin. Who was Rudy? The name had briefly crossed his mind. He was lying in a field of grass, retching and vomiting blood. Somebody was shouting someone else's name, "Buck! Where are you?"

He lay there, motionless, breathing heavily and looking at a gray sky. Something told him he should know where he was, but he didn't. A female weasel with brown fur and a creamy underbelly shook his shoulders, shouting that name over and over, saying, "Buck, answer me! Please!" She was pretty, though she was crying. And then he said the only thing he could:

_"Who are you?"_

She looked at him, shocked, and still, and quiet. "Buck," she whispered, "It's _me_. Melody. Your sistah. You _know_ me."  
>And her face contorted into a look of pain when he replied hoarsely, "No I don't. I don't know who you are."<br>And then everything went black.

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><p><strong>Was that not the best chapter of this story or what? i had fun writing this, but i need to stop thinking about tracker jackers. please review, thats the reason i keep writing!<strong>


	10. Shreds

**I think I'm uploading chapters more frequently now. Hey, thanks for reviewing, guys! ALSO,**

**I'm trying to make this story not so boring...so now at last my story will have a reason to be rated T.**

**FOR AWESOMENESS.**

**no, jk, for scariness. not like omg a ghost but like omgosh ur bleeding or noooo frodo died  
><strong>**not that i ever read l.o.t.r.  
><strong>**disclaimer: if i owned ice age, i wouldnt write a fanfiction. i would just make a movie. so i dont own ice age.  
><strong>**will there be a hard past revealed in this chapter? maybe...**

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><p><strong>Tabitha's POV<strong>

I ran. I didn't know why I was running, I wasn't so badly insulted, but it felt good. It felt good to be dodging things that could hit my head, it felt good to leave things behind. It felt good not to have to think about our situation.

However, it did not feel good to fall down a ravine in the dim, fading light.

I tumbled head-over-heels and felt something claw my back. I stifled a scream; it hurt, but I would not cry. It was probably nothing, anyway.

I came to a stop, and I lay there, looking at the dense jungle overgrowth above me. The gash on my back stung, so I sat up, thinking that when i got off the dirt it wold stop stinging. Obviously, it kept stinging. I hissed in pain, and heard a twig snap behind me. I turned around and saw something running. I heard it too: ragged breathing and mumbling under it's breath.

"Hello?" I felt around for a stick, or rock, or something to defend myself. Whoever, or whatever, it was stopped and fell to it's knees. Cautiously, I crept forward, ready to stab it's eyes out with the stick if need be. A cry escaped his lips (I was sure it was a he) and he clutched his head. It was then I saw the scratches all over his body, like when a crazy person tries to get rid of invisible mosquitoes all over that actually itch. "Hello?" I repeated, scared. He turned his head, and I looked into the bloodshot eye of my father.

"Dad?"

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><p><strong>Universal<strong>** POV**

"Tabitha, where are you? Come back!" cried Melody. Manny felt incredibly guilty, "Melody, I'm sorry, I-" "Hush up, Manfred and help me find 'er so ya can apologize to her yourself." "Well _excuse_ me for-" "You are excused," she replied coldly.  
>Manny promptly shut up.<br>The two (Ellie, Crash, and Eddie had stayed behind in case Tabitha were to come back. Also, because Manny insisted) turned their heads towards the sound of somebody running. Melody clutched the dagger Buck had left behind, and dropped it as she was ambushed. She stumbled back and grunted as she tried to keep her footing; Evidently, skinny fourteen- year-old girls could bring you down easily. "Tabitha, where the bloody heck have you been?" Tabitha didn't respond, but clutched her aunt, crying or making crying noises. "Shh, it's all right, you're safe now. Tabitha? Tabitha?" She pushed the girl away and held her at arms length to survey her. Her fur was messed up and burrs clung to her fur, and there was a long, shallow cut on her back.

Altogether, she looked terrified, like she had seen a ghost and come running through the wilderness to tell the village. "Tabitha, what happened?" asked Manny softly. Melody brushed away a strand of hair on the teen's face. "Come on, Tabby, you can tell us." Tabitha hiccuped, and tried not to cry. "We should get back to the camp now," said Manny. "No," said Tabitha, "W-we c-can't go yet." "What do ya mean, Tabby-girl?" Tabitha flinched at the old nickname given to her by her parents. She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it. Tabitha tried again.  
>"I found him."<p>

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><p>"You found her?" inquired Ellie, coming to meet them. "Oh, Tabitha, honey! You're okay! Oh, let me see that cut." She spun Tabitha around, frowning. "Ellie, you know how to tend to wounds?" asked Melody. "A little." "Could you take care of Tabitha, then? I...We have something we need to take care of." "Sure," said Ellie, though she didn't sound sure. "Did you find Buck?" asked Eddie. Melody hesitated, "Perhaps."<p>

After deciding that Tabitha was in good hands (or...paws), the dynamic duo of mammoth and weasel left again, in search of the swashbuckling weasel who had, unbeknownst to them, been reduced to shreds.


	11. Raining Stair Rods

**Yessiree, i'm back again with more to read!**

**So, thanks again, dudes for all the tlc and reviews!  
>WOW so this should be one of the last chapters of the first half of this story.<strong>

**ANYWAY, how was your Easter?**** this is a bit late, but mine was okay. twas very nice.  
>UM, so feel free to leave a review whether or not you have an account...<br>i dont own ice age...the usual disclaimer.**

**and now...**

**CHAPTER ELEVEN!**

**11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 12 11**

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><p><strong>Tabitha<strong>

"Dad?" I asked, worried and frightened. It didn't seem like he'd heard me, nor did it seem as though he could see me. I waved my hand in front of his face and snapped my fingers. "Daddy," I cried, sounding ever so much like a first grader, "Daddy, please!" I grabbed his shoulders and shook him, but he just stared past me, trembling with that crazy look in his eye.

And it scared me.

I yelled at him to stop, desperate for my only parent to be okay. He pushed me away and hissed.

_Hissed._

At _me._

I had never seen him his at anyone, for any reason other than defense. I remembered only three occasions where he had raised his voice at my mother or Melody. And he had never hurt anyone he loved, at least not that I could recall.

And it hadn't been the playful shove I was used to seeing from him. It was the kind of shove the baker gives to the bread thief, or the bully gives to the victim.

I backed away, and despite my efforts not to, I found myself crying. He scrambled away, the blood on his pelt glistening in the moonlight.

At that moment, a few things "clicked" in my head.

1. It was getting really late.

2. The herd would be worried, and probably come looking.

3. There was something seriously wrong with my dad at the moment.

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><p>I ran into Melody's arms, nearly knocking her over in the process. "Tabitha, where the bloody heck 'ave you been?" she cried. I didn't respond; for some reason her British accent made me cry. "Shh, it's all right, you're safe now. Tabitha? Tabitha?" She hugged me, then held me at arm's length to survey the damage. I must have looked terrible, maybe crazy, like a wild jungle girl or something. "Tabitha, what happened?" asked Manny softly. Melody brushed away a strand of hair on my face. "Come on, Tabby, you can tell us." I tried to answer, but couldn't. "We should get back to the camp now," said Manny. "No," I said,"W-we c-can't go yet." I cursed myself for stuttering. I sounded like an idiot. "What do ya mean, Tabby-girl?" I stiffened at the nickname given to me by my parents. I opened my mouth to speak, but did not. Clearing my throat, I tried again.<p>

"I found him."

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><p><strong>Melody<strong>

Besides the gash on her back, Tabitha had returned safely. For this I was relieved of a small bit of stress, after all, the least I could do for my brother was keep his only child safe. And besides, had I...any children, he would have done the same for me.

"Come on, Manny. If he's as crazy as he sounds, he could get himself into a heap of trouble." In silence, we ventured on into the jungle.

Taking a shot at small talk, presumably to lighten the mood, Manny asked, "So...I guess Buck was the only one of your guys to get married, eh?" _He didn't know. There was no way he could have known. He didn't know, Melody._  
>I did my best to maintain my composure as I answered, striving to sound cool as opposed to hot headed,"No." Taken aback, the mammoth instinctively asked, "What?" I took a deep breath and clenched and un-clenched my fists. <em>You are a grown woman, not a moody teenager, and not the sensitive ten year old of years past.<em>  
>"I was married at one time." Having nothing else to say, he said one word.<p>

"Oh."

Sensing confusion, I continued slowly. "He left me upon finding out I was pregnant." Six words, now:

"Oh, I'm sorry. Truly, I am."

However, he still sounded confused about that last part. I sighed, "Miscarriage." He laid his trunk upon my shoulder in silent understanding.  
>After a while, he broke the silence. "My first family was killed by humans," Manny said quietly.<br>I looked up at him, "Had I known you at the time, I would have sent you a sincere letter of sympathy and sorrow. Alas, I did not."

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><p>We came to a clearing; a field of high grass. By this time, it was raining (as they say) stair rods, and I shielded my eyes, wondering how on earth (or, in this case, under the earth) it rained underground. Peering out onto the field as best as I could, I shouted, "Buck, where are you? Buck, answer me!"<br>"Melody, look." I turned to where Manny was pointing, and saw.

Hopping over the tall grass, I grew closer to my brother. My heart beat sped up- something was wrong. I didn't realize what until I was kneeling down beside him, gazing in horror as he vomited blood. I repeated his name, because he was just staring at the sky, breathing heavily. "Buck, answer me,please," I whimpered. He said the unthinkable.

"Who _are _you?"

I couldn't believe it. My own twin, whom I had lived within close proximity of since before birth.

He didn't know who I was.

"Buck," I whispered,"It's _me_. Melody. Your sistah. You _know_ me."

What he said next stung worse than a slap.

"No I don't. I don't know who you are."

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><p><strong>Please and thank you, if you review!<strong>


	12. An Abnormality

**Chapter TWELVE!**

**Disclaimer! I don't own Ice Age! If i did, wouldst I write a fanfiction? I should thinketh not!**

**ANYWHO  
>thanks for the reviews...<strong>** for anyone wondering whether _all_ of the herd will walk out of Dinotopia alive...They won't. DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN of course, this could be a brain teaser or something, like omg what about Sid when really Sid's not even in dinotopia any more. So pay careful attention...**

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><p><strong>Buck<strong>

I awoke slowly, slow enough for nobody to notice. I stared up at the leafy canopy for a while before I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I must have made a sound, for Melody, Eddie and Tabitha turned. Mel, as usual, got stressed out over a lot of things, usually small things, so I wasn't suprised to see that she was sleep deprived. Eddie looked rather worried, and Tabitha looked upset.  
>I locked eyes with her for a split second, and I remembered last night.<br>It made my head hurt more, and for a fleeting second I panicked, thinking that I really had let my only daughter die.

I must have had the deer-in-the-headlights look on my face, because Melody asked me something softly and came to my side. Something that sounded like, "Qousnopbleuham?" Terrified that I was losing what little sanity I had left, I asked stupidly, "What?" My voice sounded dry and cracked.

"Buck, you know who I am, correct?"  
>"No...Do you happen to be the pizza delivery man?" She frowned, and her furrowed brow furrowed some more. I laughed.<p>

"Smellody, of course I know who you are."

She looked relieved (if a bit annoyed by the nickname), and she and Eddie shared a glance.  
>What was going on? Was I suffering from some sort of amnesia? What had changed between Eddie and Melody. A horrifying thought of a romance between them flickered in to my head, and then flickered out because Melody was, fortunately, much too old for him. Maybe friends, finally. Being stranded in a deserted jungle inhabited by dinosaurs usually either kills you, drives you mad, or makes you befriend people. In some rare cases it makes you hate them. But it's very rare.<p>

She laid a paw on my forehead. "Still feverish," she announced quietly,"But at least you're a bit better now...You had us worried, I thought- Never mind." "Wait, what happened?" "You went berserk," replied Manny, ever enthusiastic to make me look like a loony. Ellie gave him a disapproving glance. "Well," Melody, ever cautious, chose her words carefully. "I suppose that has a bit of truth in it."

I didn't like where this was going.

"But to be, ah, fully truthful, you were hallucinating; seeing things that weren't there. When we found you, ya had a high fever-dangerously high. That could have been a contributing factor. Most likely, it was." "You were puking blood, too," added Crash.

I let my head fall back down on the makeshift pillow of leaves, a small groan escaping my lips. It was really hot in here, and my vision was becoming blurred. Beads of sweat dripped into my eyes and I suddenly felt chilly.

I let the fever seep into my thoughts, and fell unconscious once more.

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><p>(Universal POV)<p>

"That's not normal, is it?" asked Tabitha. "What?" Melody played dumb. "Don't ask what, you know what I mean! Is it normal to be unconscious one second, perfectly fine the next, and then out cold in less that five minutes?" Her voice grew louder with each word that passed her lips. Melody sighed and motioned for her to calm down.

"Of course it's not normal, but we can try to bring his fever back down again. It's rising quickly."

"What can we do?" asked Tabitha, quickly regaining composure. Melody was surprised by how mature she sounded. Like an adult; a doctor, ready to help the patient rather than a kid screaming about Dad.  
>Melody bit her nails, a bad habit she had tried to break numerous times in the course of her lifetime, never quite succeeding. "You're not goin' to like it. None of you, least of all Manfred."<br>"We have to go into the jungle, don't we?" It was Eddie who asked this.

"Aye, mate. That we do."

"What do we need?" asked Manny. "Manny, I need you an' Ellie to stay here with Buck." "But-" "No buts about it, mammoth. If he goes wacko again, we need somebody to be there." "What about Cash and Eddie?" "Safety in numbers. They're stupid, no offense of course, but they could come in handy. You know, fill a leaf with water or somethin' like that."  
>"Be careful."<br>"Aren't I always? At least, compared to him." She nodded in Buck's direction, and flashed her beautiful smile that had won a certain man's heart, if only for a short time.


	13. Waiting for Death to Come

**Chapter THIRTEEN! like district thirteen!**

**I don't own ice age! copyright 20th century fox!**

**ENJOY!**

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><p><strong>Tabitha<strong>

My piercing shriek echoed through the jungle.

All I had done was walk a few yards away to fetch some water. Seen something, perhaps it had been her; wandered a few feet.

Now this.

I ran, faster than I ever had in my life. My breathing was shallow, quick and ragged; my lungs burned, but no matter what happened I couldn't stop.

All it would take was one wrong step and I would trip and fall and she would be upon me.

She.

It.

What difference? Both describe a saber-toothed tiger.

The greenery whizzed past me, scratching my face and burning my skin. Any second now it's claws would dig into my skin, her teeth would sink into my body and blood would stain my fur the way it had years and years before, only this time I would really, truly die.

Suddenly, my foot caught on something and my stomach flopped with the sensation of falling. I screamed and screamed as the wind blew back my fur and I could hear the creatures roars and screams not so far away. I squeezed my eyes shut as the wind was knocked out of my body.

I must have broken every bone, broken my back. Maybe I was paralyzed- I couldn't move. This thought panicked me and I bit my tongue in fright.

The tangy taste of blood filled my mouth as I rolled over slowly. Gasping for breath, my heart pounding, I managed to stand on all fours.

My opponent was pouncing, a blood-curdling roar leaving it's lips. Using what little energy I had left, I darted away as fast as I could. I stumbled through the undergrowth and collapsed in a pond, waiting for the end.

For death.

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><p><strong>Melody<strong>

****Two shrieks filled the air; one more high pitched than the other. Forgetting the twins, I dashed in the direction, calling Tabitha's name. Something roared and I sped up. I reached the river and my eyes searched for Tabitha.

"Peaches," I whispered softly.

Relief coursed through my body. She was okay. We would be okay. We could go home now.

The girl backed away, and a look of pain and fear crossed her face. I noted her injured leg; the bruises and cuts on her body.

"Shh, Peaches, it's only me," I cooed, motioning for her to come. I crept forward slowly, "I won't hurt you, come 'ere, Peachy."

She let out a strangled cry as I unexpectedly rushed forward and wrapped an arm around her neck.

Then I heard her screams- not Peaches, but Tabitha.

Oh, Tabitha. You just can't stop getting into trouble, now can you?

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><p><strong>Buck<strong>

****"Let me go," I growled as Manny struggled to keep me down.

"Buck, listen, she'll be all right-"

"Let me go!" I screamed.  
>"She's hurt!" I wriggled and scratched and clawed; The fever threatened to drag me down, back to the confusing world where everything was shiny and dangerous.<p>

"I came fer your Peaches, why won't you let me go for my own?" I was practically sobbing.

"Buck, stay down!" The mammoth commanded, shoving me hard.

I'm unsure as of what happened after that. I think I scratched him or something similar to that because then I was running, the ground slippery and unfamiliar beneath my feet.

Something wasn't right.

Nothing was the right color; everything was out of proportion.

"No, no, no," I clutched my forehead, the pain shooting through my brain like an arrow.

I couldn't back down now.

I had to keep it together. 

Someone was either coming _at _me or _ for_ me, either way I didn't like it. I had to find her.

My Tabitha. My Tabby.

My little girl.

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><p><strong>Diego<strong>

****"Stay here!" I ordered Matthias and Dorothy. I had heard Peaches scream and I wasn't about to let this chance go. We might never find her otherwise.  
>I bounded through the treacherous jungle, dodging 'enemy attackers' as easily as a fish swims. The wind changed direction and I stopped, confused and bewildered.<p>

"Saber?" I asked thin air.


	14. Pray for us Sinners

**Chapter fourteen! I don't own ice age! copyright 20th century fox! If i did own it, i wouldn't write any fanfictions. A you can see, I am writing a fanfiction, thus I don't own it.**

**Thanks guys! love the reviews, KaylaDestroyer, Buckrocks, Mad Face Pro c.c., Tigey Wigey, and the the rest of you!yah I'm talkin to you!**

**ALSO**

**please forgive me for any coarse language used- it's the characters talking, not me!**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Buck<strong>

I crash through the undergrowth, tripping over anything and everything. The world is a spinning, blurry ball of confusion and nonsense. But I have to find her.

I will not lose her again.

And now I am falling, falling into a dark world where I will remain forever. The light is disappearing, a pinprick in my vision...

All goes black.

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><p>My eyes slowly open. I rub them, trying to clear the blurriness and only partially succeeding at first. <em><br>_

I groan. How long have I been out? It could have been minutes, seconds, days or hours.

I sit up and try to stand, taking in my surroundings. The lighting is dim; I look up and realize I've fallen into a crevice in a ravine. It's a wonder I survived with little or no injuries. Around me, I can just make out the outlines of trees, bushes, and some small dinosaurs that I've seen before. The harmless kind.

I calculate how far I fell, about ten feet, and look at the walls. With a grunt, I place my paws on the hand and footholds the wall provides, begin to climb, and fall down.

And then I am doubled over, retching and spewing out what must be half my internal organs.

I lie there, curled up in a ball, shivering and nautious for what seems like an eternity, unable to move. And finally, I hear Ellie.

"Buck?" she calls, leaning over the edge of the crevice. I find myself unable to speak, unable to make any sound at all. Finally, I give up the fight.

My head falls, the blackness consumes me once more.

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><p><strong>Tabitha<strong>

I remember a lot. I forget just as much, but what I do remember, I remember clearly.

I wasn't always the tough, stop-annoying-me-Eddie-before-I-sock-your-ugly-face, used-to-living-on-the-streets kind of girl. At one point, a long, long, long time ago, before any of this nonsense with dead Moms and missing dads and being presumed dead happened, before I realized that Saber toothed tigers and weasels don't usually mix, I was...Well, I was a happy little kid. Hair in pigtails. Believes in the fairies. Wants to be a mermaid when they grow up. You get the picture.

I always wondered how long you were supposed to act like that. How long until you were really supposed to see the world and all it's terrors.

I don't think six years old is the right age. I really don't.

Maybe that's why "weird" is usually how other girls describe me. Because I _am_ weird.

I mean, what normal kid is nearly torn to shreds twice? I don't know any other kids my age who only have a dad; whose other parent died like mine did.

I mean, I know their out there, but...Where? I want to know. Because they would have gone through the same pain, the same grief, the same misery. They wouldn't have the exact same story,. maybe they wouldn't have starved like I did, been pushed around like I did; maybe they'd have had it better, maybe their dad found them, maybe they made friends. Or perhaps they had it worse. Maybe their dad drinks or beats them up or maybe both parents died and maybe they're emo or got cancer or lost an arm...

Waiting has never been my stronghold. I am impatient. I like to do things quickly. I don't often think before I act.

Sound much like my dad?

Which is why laying in a pond, dead tired and bleeding in various places and most likely scratched by poison ivy or something, waiting for death, is agonizing. It hurts almost as much as the actual dying part.

It hurts so much because I have to think.

I have to remember.

I have to remember my mother telling me to run, I have to remember starving. I have to remember being orphaned. I have to remember the smell of her fur, the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed. The way my dad used to smile when he kissed her forehead.

It was a smile reserved just for her. A smile I have not seen in eight years. A small smile; a smile so small it took up his whole face. The way his eyes crinkled, the way the corners of his mouth turned up just so, the way...

All these things, gone. Each one comes back just to stab me in the heart like a dagger.

I wish I could die already. I could be at peace.

I believe in Heaven.

I remember someone told me, maybe my grandma (maternal side), before she died, that all good children go to heaven.

Now, I haven't exactly been an angel, I'll admit. I cuss, I yell, I'm temperamental. I've stolen loads of times, but for the most part only food, to survive. I don't really think that counts. I've lied, too. But I was also told that sins can be forgiven.

Now, I'm not a particularly religious person (actually, I basically never pray...like, never ever ever), and I have questioned the existence of a God before, but right now, I'm not taking chances.

I pray.

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><p><strong>You know how much I love reviews! PLEASE!<strong>


	15. Short Asthma Sentences

**Chapter FIFTEEN! **

**I don't own ice age! copyright 20th century fox! If i did own it, i wouldn't write any fanfictions. A you can see, I am writing a fanfiction, thus I don't own it.**

**Thanks guys! love the reviews, KaylaDestroyer, Buckrocks, Mad Face Pro c.c., Tigey Wigey, and the the rest of you!yah I'm talkin to you!**

**THAT ONE SONG SHE SINGS BELONGS TO DISNEY!**

**enjoy y'all!**

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><p><strong>Tabitha<strong>

****"Uh...I..."

It's been so long since I ever said a prayer. I say whatever words come to mind.

"Please God help me," I whimper. I hear snarls; I hear footsteps. I hear growls.

I hear tigers.

I can just barely make out words as I cower behind a lily pad.

"Diego..." Is the harsh grunt.

"Trisha-"

"Hush! You left me, traitor. Now, I turn on y-" The sentence is cut off by a sharp cry.

My heart pounds. I can't take this anymore. I can't take this jungle. The poisonous plants. The flesh eating bugs. The gigantic lizards. The saber toothed tigers. The blood. The craziness of this scenario.

I wish Peaches would hurry up and be found. I wish I had never wandered off the trail. I wish I was back at camp, or at least with Melody.

I wish, I wish, I wish.

"_If you wish upon a star_," I sing in a shaky voice under my breath. I try to calm down. Stop hyperventilating. Calm. Think Zen. Buddhism. Like from seventh grade history. Think in longer sentences, no more asthma sentences.

"_You will find out who you are."_

__My voice catches. No, I can't scream; don't scream don't scream...I finally notice the water around me. Reddish. I must be bleeding. I look down and see a gash across my body, plenty of other scrapes and bruises. Burrs are tangled in my fur, piercing my skin. I'm covered in mud.

Something wraps around my foot.

I never get the chance to scream before I'm dragged under the-

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><p><strong>Melody<strong>

****"C'mon, Peaches, let's get you home," says Eddie softly. She takes a step forward.

"Go on, luv. You're Mummy an' Daddy miss ya very much."

Another step. This is taking too long.

I hear another roar.

"Diego?" Eddie looks at me questioningly, expecting an answer.

I shrug.

Tabitha; we must find Tabitha.

"I'll go find 'er," I say. Crash begins to protest, but I point out that I'm pretty much the closest thing to Buck, and if I don't go now, well...You get the idea, right?

"You two jus' get the lass home, alright, mates?"

They nod and we depart again.

I clutch the stone knife in my paw as I scurry through the undergrowth, looking and searching.

I have a bad feeling; the kind I used to get when Buck and I were kids and we got into all kinds of mischief and he'd get hurt. He must be in trouble.

Again.

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><p><strong>Buck<strong>

****Again, I try to wake up, but I can't. Can't wake up.

"Uggnnhhh," Is as close as I get to calling for help.

"Buck," I hear someone say way off in the distance.

"Careful, now, lay him down gently," a female says. They are so far away.

"Where did you say the antidote was?" My head throbs and I can barely make out these words. More talking.

I can't understand.

Pain. Hurting. Really short sentences. Something about putting to sleep.

Something bitter trickles down my throat. I swallow, but find it even harder to wake up and I give up again. Too tired. Maybe...I can...wake ... up later...


	16. Revenge on the traitor

**Chapter 16!**

**hey y'all! so as u may have noticed, i'm gettin back into the 'groove' of this story again!**

**i dont own anything except my oc's!**

**enjoy! AH HA HA SUMMER **

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><p><strong>Diego<strong>

I never remembered Trisha being this aggressive. She was always just my helpless cousin that I looked after. The runt. Obedient. Nice to me, friendly. Not like this. A killing machine, you know?

Maybe I never should have left, because now I have to make a hard decision: Kill my own blood cousin, or let her kill me and my...family.

I am bleeding in various places, old and tired. She is small, fierce, and young, but she too is badly wounded.

"Trisha please, leave before I hurt you. I don't want to."

"Oh, Diego. You just don't get it, do you?"

_"I want to kill you."_

__I want to kill you. She wants to kill me. But why? I find myself voicing this question aloud, and hear her snarling, nasty answer.

"You left me, traitor! You think that pack wanted anything to do with me after you left?" she spits.

"No! They cast me out- an outcast! Because of you! This was all your fault, you herbivore!"

That's it; that was too far. She crossed the line.

I lunge, a very un-herbivore-like roar escaping my mouth.

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><p><strong>Matthias<strong>

"Where did you say the antidote was?" asks Manny as Dorothy pours liquid down Buck's throat. He whimpers and Ellie asks what that is. Something to put him to sleep for a spell, I suppose.

"Apparently, the plant thrives near volcanic activity," I say numbly. Or at least I feel numb. Everyone says I always talk like a professional-well, most people- others say I talk as if I were a waiter at a fancy restaurant.

May I take your order, miss?

Manny frowns, and Ellie does the same as Dorothy runs a hand through her hair nervously.

"Where's Diego?" I force a smile onto my face as I tell them what should be good news.

"He...He found Peaches, or at least we think so." Ellie draws in a sharp breath.

"I really hope- I was beginning to think, I mean-"

Dorothy gives her a small smile, "We all hope so. We need some good news."

But her smile is tainted with sadness, for time is running low and with every second that ticks by, the lives of both our brother and our friend come closer and closer to the end of the line.

A roar fills the jungle, and we look up. Manny snaps.

"Maybe he needs our help, what if Peaches is hurt, why are we just standing here PEACHES IS OUT THERE?"

He makes a break for it and Ellie runs after him, telling him to calm down in a worried voice. Dorothy and I share a look, and she nods. I dart off into the unknown after the two mammoths.


	17. As I die

**Chapter 17!**

**So...how y'all doing? I heard there were some real bad storms on the east coast (US)...Um...how are you...surviving the heat? I don't have ac so its really news:**

**I I'm really sorry for all of you who were following the Ice Age Games  but I just couldn't write it any more. Perhaps in the future I can finish it.**

**anyway enough dilly dally**

**I dont own ice age only my OC's! please please PLEASE review! It helps me to keep writing!**

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><p><strong>Tabitha<strong>

I thrash around, desperate for air, but my attacker is really strong and determined to kill me. Blackness creeps in around my vision as I continue to struggle. I kick weakly as the last of my energy is drained. As I die.

I reflect on all the times I should have said sorry. I only wish I could have said goodbye.

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><p><strong>Matthias<strong>

Ellie gasps. "Peaches!"

I suppose it's fair to say that I was anticipating some sort of happy reunion, but it is not to be. The child shies away from the two for a moment, then hesitantly takes a step toward her parents.

"Back off!" hisses a newcomer. I look at her: bloodied fur coat, menacing and half crazed eyes, the female saber is straight from a horror movie. She swipes at Manny, leaving a streak of red on his trunk.

"Ellie, get Peaches out of here."

"Oh no you don't!" she admonishes in a teacher-like way. And then he pounces.

In the midst of the confusion, Peaches is ushered from the scene. Two females lead her back to camp. Ellie glances over her shoulder, then quickly looks away.

The air is filled with trumpets, hisses, screeches and tufts of fur. The other saber flees at last.

After a spell, the silence is broken.

"You okay, Diego?" asks Manny.

"Yeah...Yeah," he pants.

He certainly doesn't look okay. Of course, upon closer inspection, none of the cuts are _too_ deep.

Before we can interrogate him further, Melody bursts into the clearing.

"Have ya seen Tabitha? Wot about the possums?" she cries quickly.

None of us have.

"HHEELLPP!"

"Crash?"

"Those stupid in-laws of yours are always getting into trouble," mutters Diego to Manny.

"SOMEBODY!" it sounds like Eddie. Of course, I can't tell the difference.

"I'll go," says Diego.

"Diego, you can't-"

"Go take care of Ellie. I'll be fine."


	18. Monster in the Waters

**Chapter 18**

**a big round of applause for all those who reiewed, follwed, and favorited my story so far! you make my day! And don't think I don't see you, you silent readers! I check my story's traffic!**

**i don't own ice age!**

**speaking of which, I finally saw ice age four!**

**was it just me or was it a bit short? nonetheless, I laughed a lot. Sorry for the shortness...of this chapter**

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><p><strong>Eddie<strong>

So maybe being stupid isn't all that great. Because here I am, Sitting beneath a tree on wet sand with my brother, in front of a lake with enough dinosaurs to kill me with a possibly dead she-weasel.

"Eddie, what do we do?"

"Is she even alive?" We poke Tabitha's face.

"I don't think she's breathing..."

"...What are we supposed to do?" We share a horrified look.

"I'm not kissing her! What if she wakes up?" cries Crash.

"I think it's called See Pee Arrg or something."

"Same thing." Something in the pond moves, and I stumbled back, tripping over my tail and falling on top of...Tabitha. I shriek- I just fell on a could-be dead person! But despite my fear, we're relieved when she moans, doubles over and turns onto her side. And then...She barfs.

"Ew, gross!" we cry as she retches and spews out pond water. But I edge closer to her and tentatively place a hand on her back when I realize she's crying while throwing up. Something in the pond catches Crash's attention.

"OH MY GOODNESS!"

"What?" I spin around and see a monster rising from the lake. Tabitha flops over on the sand, breathing slowly returning to normal as we start screaming for help.

The beast is something we've never seen before. Rows of jagged teeth reveal themselves and prohibit it from closing it's massive mouth. Water drips from it's black leathery skin, and we cry even louder when we count the number of arms tipped with clawed hands: seven.

The two of us back up into the undergrowth, me helping Tabitha's trembling frame stand up. To our surprise, shock, and horror, the water monster follows us!

"DIEGO! HELPPP!"


	19. Sheer luck

**Chapter 19**

**Thanks to all my faithful readers.I'm sorry I update so slowly.**

**I don't own ice age. Review! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaase! **

**And I know this was in present tense before, and suddenly it's in paste tense, but I think we can make a deal: as long as it's in first person, it's present tense, and third person it's not.**

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><p>"Get your hands off me," muttered Tabitha, shaking the twins off her. She tripped and fell, and began coughing.<p>

"What are you doing? That thing's gonna catch us!" screeched Eddie, picking her up again.

"I can't," she moaned. They could hear the beast crashing through the flora and fauna after them. Crash picked her up and they resumed running. He was surprised at how heavy she was-she didn't look this heavy. Panting, he ducked behind a tree and set her down again. The trio huddled together, hoping against hope that the creature wouldn't find bit back a scream as something wet and slippery brushed against her foot. She suddenly felt even more nauseous when she was hit by the fowl stench. It smelled...rotten. Like rotten eggs, rotten leaves, rotten fish, rotting corpse. The thing passed them, and she hurled again.

"Gee whiz, how many times are you going to throw up?" whined Eddie.

"Yeah, it really stinks," complained Crash.

"Can we just get out of here?" growled Tabitha, her mood growing more sour by the moment.

"We're trying! But all your-"

"DO you really think I_ like_ throwing up?" snapped Tabitha weakly.

"Well..."

"Don't answer that."

"Okay."

For once the stupid twins seemed to understand. Maybe dire situations do that to people.

The sickening stench wafted into the trio's noses, causing all three to gag. Tabitha realized with dismay that Crash and Eddie were back to dragging her unkindly through the flora. Rustled and grunt came from the side, and she held back a whimper. Whimpering defined a wimp.

A not-quite-deafening, but still- quite- loud roar filled the jungle, causing leaves on smaller trees to tremble, and an orange figure leapt into view, as another, less pleasant figure came at them. Diego threw himself upon the threat to the possums and Tabitha, clawing and biting and getting clawed and bitten himself.

It was Tabitha's turn to pull the possums along.


	20. A thousand Arows

**Chapter 20**

**Thanks to all my faithful readers.**

**THANK YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING I LOVE YOU**

**I don't own ice age! (c) 2oth century fox**

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><p>Buck. Sid. The words echoed through Matthias' mind. The realization dawned on him that Buck might never receive the antidote, nor Sid. The thought struck him hard, a blow to the gut, as he followed the screams and rustles in the bushes to find his niece and the twins. If he couldn't save Buck, then he would save Tabitha. He caught sight of the trio he was after: muddy, sick, slowing down.<p>

"Eddie!" he called, reaching out and grabbing the marsupial's paw. All three came to an abrupt halt.

Panting as she lay on the ground, thankful to catch her breath, Tabitha looked up into Matthias' eyes. Matthias tried to smile, but it felt like a grimace. As hard as he tried to prevent Tabitha from figuring out his feelings, his secrets, the words that he could never admit to Tabitha, she found them hidden behind the blue walls of his eyes.

"We will," she insisted, "We _will_ find the antidote before it's too late."

"Where there's a will, there's a way," Matthias said solemnly. "But right now, let's...Let's get ya back to camp."

"But-but, what about Diego?" sputtered Eddie.

"Fighting that monster all by himself!" continued Crash, gasping theatrically.

"And why is he fighting that monster?" asked Matthias, his voice hard.

"To save you. 'Twould be a shame to waste all his effort, no?"

"But-"

"Manny can help him," Matthias said gently. "We'll get through this, all of us. You'll see."

Behind the fur, beneath the skin, Matthias was still trying to convince himself of that.

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><p>As all this was happening, Buck was in a different situation.<p>

There was no sound, no sight, no emotion. There was only pain, the fiery pain that coursed through his body, piercing him with a thousand arrows; dully washing against him like an ocean of misery. In this place, nothing mattered anymore. There was no Tabitha, no Sid, no Peaches, no Melody, and no Rudy. Names were meaningless, merely sounds that he could no longer hear.

There was only agony.

There is a point at which one stops fighting, gives up the will to live. This is the breaking point, the point that even the most courageous and daring and strong reach. And Buck was there. To him, death would be a sweet bliss. But he could not know this, because there were no thoughts, no sounds, no incentives.

Only the present. Only the fight for self preservation.

Sid had been in this place for longer, but the pain was a notch lower due to Old Maggie's years of experience in the medical field. A nice dose of aspen bark had done the trick. (It contains a sort of aspirin, by-the-by)

Sid, at least, could think a little. The occasional name would float by, he would keep fighting, keep trying even if only for a little longer. For them.

At least when Sid died, it wouldn't be so painful, thought Maggie.

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><p>The vein pulsing screaming came after everyone had left in search of Peaches. Muffled by blankets, the herd members did not hear, for they were too far. And so when Dorothy stumbled into the room, she was greeted by silence.<p>

Overwhelming silence, a deafening silence. A strangled sob tried to escape from her mouth, and slid toward her brother to check for breathing. A long breath escaped her mouth. He was breathing, if only a little.

Melody stared down at him, trying to be the stronger sister, the older sister she had always had to be.

"He'll be okay," she whispered hoarsely, a lie that convinced neither her or Dorothy. Their brother was dying, and they knew it. Melody knew it in her gut, that heart wrenching feeling that made her want to break down and cry again as she had so many, many times before. Buck was sleeping, but he didn't look peaceful.

He already bore the look of the dead.


	21. Leaving

**Chapter 21**

**We're nearing the end of this epic tale! Not yet, but soon, my pretty, soon...**

**I don't own Ice Age!**

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><p>That night, Tabitha cried and cried and cried, promising herself that after this she would never cry again, knowing in her heart that that promise would be broken. She refused the company of everyone but Melody, sobbing into her fur by her father's dying frame.<p>

What annoyed her the most, though, was that she couldn't pinpoint exactly why she was crying. Maybe it was stress, maybe it was fear but whatever it was, Tabitha hated it. Tabitha hated this whole stupid world of dinosaurs and everything associated with it. She hated Peaches and her kidnappers and she hated Rudy and she hated Sid because if it weren't for them her father would be okay and they'd be home in the snow the way they used to be...And she kept crying and hating and recalling every last detail of the past couple of weeks, from the time she was watching Peaches and the mammoth and slipped and fallen through the ice to now, and after that she reduced her hate to only herself and Rudy and poisonous plants because if she'd watched Peaches more carefully then...then...

And so the tears streamed down her face, and Melody's face, and a few slipped from Dorothy's eyes and Peaches bawled long into the night and nobody knew why everyone was crying. Yet, everyone knew why they were wasn't until Matthias and Diego left in search of the Antidote that Tabitha's sobs subsided to hiccups and the drizzle that had been raining down from the underground clouds cleared up.

Finally, after long hours of Tabitha staring up at the cavern ceiling listening to Peaches wail, Tabitha fell asleep.

And Silas woke up, in another world entirely, one of snow and ice. Silas woke up and thought about the friend he'd lost, the Tabitha that was MIA, the girlfriend he'd never have. Silas got up, walked out of the den, and walked away with no purpose in mind.

Only to leave.

And he found that while leaving was hard, after you left, it was the easiest thing in the world. So he stayed out all night, and fell asleep under a tree far from home, and when he awoke began the journey back at a trot instead of a meandering walk. Silas was a thoughtful boy, which is probably why he thought so much, in particular about Tabitha. He thought about her and missed her, and the more the thought the more he missed, the more he missed the more he thought.

Silas slipped into his den and fell back asleep before his parents even found out.


	22. i knnow a song

**Chapter 22! I don't own ice age!**

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><p>Tabitha awoke in a terrible mood. She hated crying and she hated everything having to do with crying. In that past month and a half she'd cried more than she had in the past two years, and she could never take back those tears. No, it was time to stop crying.<p>

Peaches woke up next, and stared at the wall for some time, wrapped in her parents' trunks for warmth. Then she looked outside and started screaming and crying, which then caused everyone else to wake up in a crabby mood.

"I am never having kids," Tabitha grumbled to Eddie.

"Peaches, please be quiet!"

"What's wrong with Peaches?" snapped Crash.

"What did you do to her, Tabitha? Eddie, was it you?" Manny pointed an accusing trunk at people, trying to come up with an explanation for the six year old's strange behavior.

"Oh, yeah, just blame everything on me!" Tabitha threw her hands up in the air.

"Well, it's your fault we're in this mess!" shouted Manny.

"Really? Well maybe if you'd try teaching Peaches how to take care of herself instead of mollycoddling her she'd know better than to jump around on thin ice!"

"YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED HER!"

"HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THERE WAS A *&*()# LAND OF DINOSAURS THAT SHE WAS GOING TO FALL INTO?"

"STOP TALKING LIKE THAT?"

"WHO THE #$% IS GOING TO #$%^&* STOP ME? IT'S A FREE COUNTRY!"

"WILL BOTH OF YOU JUST SHUT UP?!" screamed Ellie. "You're just making things worse!"

"It's not my fault Tabitha-"

"It's not my fault Manny fights with-"

"Tabitha, _please_," begged Melody, who shot a look at Manny.

There was quiet for a moment.

"I wanna go _hoooooooooooooooome_,"wailed Peaches pitifully.

"We all do, sweetheart. We all do," Ellie stroked her daughter's hair.

"You have no idea," muttered Tabitha.

"You know, Tabitha, if you weren't Buck's daughter I'd-"

"Manny, finish that sentence and you're dead," reprimanded Ellie.

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><p><em>I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves...Everybody's nerves...<em>

"Crash got that stuck in your head, didn't he?" murmured Dorothy as she, Diego, and Matthias trod through the forest at a quick pace, three hours later.

"No, I think it was Eddie," grumbled Diego.

Matthias grimaced. "It's stuck in my head, too."

Dorothy started whistling it to match Diego's humming, but soon the only sound was that of their breathing and their feet running on the forest floor. They all knew what they had to do. Get the antidote, and fast. They kept up the pace for a while, but at the sound of Matthias' labored breathing, Dorothy asked if they could stop. Her eyes met her brother's in a silent thank you/you're welcome. Without a word, they were off again, heading towards Lava Falls.

At the pace they were going, it took about a day and a half. They got there, all three of them sweating like pigs (no offense to pigs) and each of them wary of the river of fire beside them.

"Look," commanded Dorothy, and they looked for the flower. It took possibly two hours before Diego spotted the thing growing on a spire of dried lava near some small dinosaurs playing together. Without telling the others, he prowled towards it, determined to get to it before the dinos stepped on it. A baby T-Rex charged at its colorful petals and Diego roared, pouncing on the flower as delicately as he could so that this paws formed a sort of shield around it without squishing it. The baby dinosaur squealed and ran away as Diego cursed- the mother would come. Dorothy ran to his aid and pulled it out of the ground. The three took off at a sprint, the flower held awkwardly in Diego's mouth as they ran through the jungle. An angry roar shook the trees and they went faster, hoping the mother dinosaur wouldn't come after them.

Eventually they stopped beneath a magnolia tree, whooping tiredly and congratulating each other.

"We did it," sighed Matthias with a grin.

Diego held up a paw for a high-five and Dorothy returned it.

"We're gonna make it," she said.


	23. At Last

**I don't own Ice Age! Thanks PEOPLE who reviewed! You are all awesomeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee**

It was shortly before dawn that Tabitha awoke to find her uncle, aunt, and Diego sprawled out on the cave floor, half- dead from exhaustion. She saw half of the flower and its roots hastily wrapped in a leaf and the scattered remnants of the other half, signs that the antidote had been prepared sometime during the night.

She sat up and dared to look at her father.

He looked exactly the same.

Tabitha didn't know what she had been expecting, maybe some sort of miraculous cure, or at least for him to look better in the slightest. But no, there was nothing. No cure, no hope, no antidote, because the rest would be for Sid.

Unless...No, she couldnt do that to the herd. Could she? No, that would be like an overdose of medicine.

The life was drained out of her. She was asleep before her head hit the ground.

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><p>The next day, Tabitha did little more than sleep. Once she got up to use the bathroom, but that was it. She would never wake up from this slumber, never, because outside of her fantastical world she had created inside herhead, nothing would be the same. She would never love anyone ever again if she woke up because pain was something she could not bear any longer, she couldn't spare any more emotion to be hurt again and to lose another person.<p>

Alas, she did wake up, and when she did, nothing was the same. Literally- she had no idea where she was.

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><p>Buck cracked open an eye, feeling sluggish and slow, as though his movements were out of sync. He let out a breath, trying to recall something, anything- and then he realized...he couldn't see. Everything was dark...Because it was nighttime.<p>

He sat up painfully, rubbing his eyes with stiff arms in the twilight. He tried to fight the dizziness that threatened to overcome him as he tried to stand, but he succumbed to it, laying back down tiredly. That was when he started questioning things.

Where was he? What had happened? How long had he been out? Where was...

He closed his eyes, trying to come up with answers, but instead fell back to sleep.

He woke up again about an hour later, still feeling slow and stiff. He rolled over, thoughts beginning to stir inside of his fuzzy little head. The first person he saw was Peaches, but Buck did a double take. She was scrawny and thin now, obviously badly injured though she showed no signs of pain in her sleep. He would pity the moment she woke up.

Questions still remained unanswered, though he made no progress trying to conjure the answers for his thoughts were still too dim from the poison.

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><p>"Where am I?" Tabitha whispered. The tranquility of the blue glow that seemed to emanate from the ice surrounding her at dizzying heights was one that induced awed whispers.<p>

"Finally, you wake up," Tabitha turned to see Diego smirking at her. "We're almost home."

Home. The word spurred numerous memories, including painfully recent ones.

"The antidote, did you get it?" Tabitha forced herself to wake up as she followed Diego through a short tunnel, maneuvering around the sleeping figures of Peaches and her parents.

"Yeah, Sid's still with Old Maggie, though. The poison...took its toll on him." Tabitha looked at the saber curiously. Was that a soft spot for the smelly sloth?

"..."

"Don't worry, Buck's okay now. A little tired, but he's okay."

They rounded the corner and three pairs of eyes looked up at them. Tabitha grinned.

"Hey, Dad."


	24. Epilogue

**I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, Buckrocks, Lorithemolehog123, Kayla, TigeyWigey, goldenpoun, AnthonyAngryWolf, Guest, and Angel Lovely Rose; you kept me writing. We have reached the conclusion of this story at long last. I hope you enjoy this!**

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><p><strong><strong>**Epilogue/The last Chapter/Not Sure which**

****To CONCLUDE this long, 24 chapter story, I would imagine that you'd want me to go into minor detail on what exactly occurred after the herd reached the surface.

The antidote worked wonders, but alas it fell short of a miracle. Sid's neck would often experience aches and pains, though as the months passed they would eventually dull. Sid found himself short on breath when running, more so than pre-Plant Incident, and Buck was noticeably more tired than before, but with time he would recover. While he mightn't ever be quite as active as he once was when the herd had first met him, he came close to it.

Peaches, however, was another matter. The stress, hurt, and fear she had experienced was something that would require both minor physical therapy and a few sessions of therapy in general. Making friends during the next few months was harder for her, but luckily for her, a little molehog came along one day and brightened up her life. It was another day trying to get Peaches to trust people again when Crash and Eddie took her to play in the woods. During a game of Hide and Go Seek, she wandered towards a mound of rocks in a grove of trees.

The grass was wet and slippery from the melting snow and she slipped and fell onto something prickly and squishy. She let out a cry and jumped up again. Peaches looked at the strange creature she'd fallen on.

"What's your name?" she asked shyly.

"L-L-Louis," the frightened molehog replied, rubbing his bruised arm.

"I'm Peaches," she'd said, sticking out her trunk in what had now become a rare moment of bravery. Cautiously, Louis had shaken it, and that was the start of a beautiful friendship.

Tabitha had come home to an excited Silas who had evidently missed her. The two picked up their friendship as if she'd never left, but something was bothering Silas, something Tabitha couldn't see or understand. Something that Buck had noticed, but remained silent about.

All in all, it was almost a happily ever after.

Fin


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